Posted on by BWThomas

Is change the catalyst we must embrace, maybe we can’t do, be, and have exactly what we want, but what if we can?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine. John C. Maxwell

What do we wish and hope for that we will never take steps to bring to fruition? It is easy to think I’d like that, and we would, if we didn’t have to do anything to achieve it, but what are the goals we are willing to take the steps to make happen?

Today, I’m giving a speech to a Toastmasters Group that contacted me because I am a writer. For years, I wanted to write, thought about writing, and even occasionally dabbled in writing, but I never created a writing practice that I kept up until October 2000.

My husband brought home an old laptop with floppy discs, and I put that old laptop on the kitchen table and started to write every night after I put the kids to bed. We had a better computer, but I used it for work and went into work mode, not writer mode as I sat behind it. But, that little laptop brought the writer to the fore and the daily practice of writing became a reality.

Whatever we want to do will happen when we change the things we do daily. Exercise only fits into our daily schedule if we find time for it. A walk at lunchtime, before breakfast, or after dinner can fit in a daily walk. If we don’t have a daily schedule it is easy for a day to end without getting much accomplished, but if we have a schedule it is amazing what we can do. We all have the same twenty-four hours, and what we choose to do with them builds our lives.

Every morning we are born again. What we do today matters most. Buddhist Proverb

Sometimes I wonder if those elusive goals sound good. Why do we focus on goals that sound good when we can focus on what we want out of life? Do we think we sound more interesting if we say we’d love to learn another language, write a book, or see the Seven Wonders of the World? Is talking about what we want to do one of the surest ways we won’t do them, because talking feels so good, almost as good as accomplishing something, do we have to keep our ideas to ourselves to fuel our actions?

At the Writer’s Group on Saturday, the workshop was on collaborating with other writers to critique each other’s work. It’s a good idea, it might work for many, but if we share our writing too early I think it might be a mistake. First drafts are not to be shared, and partial first drafts are even worse. Collaborating might be so much fun (just like talking about our work), that we never spend enough time writing.

Spring is in the air when all things seem possible. Is there something we would like to start, or finish? What daily actions can we take to bring something to fruition? What daily improvement can we make? Daily deposits create dividends in our lives.

Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change. Jim Rohn

It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives. It’s what we do consistently. Anthony Robbins

Any day we wish we can discipline ourselves to change it all. Any day we wish; we can open the book that will open our mind to new knowledge. Any day we wish; we can start a new activity. Any day we wish; we can start the process of life change. We can do it immediately, or next week, or next month, or next year. Jim Rohn

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Posted on by BWThomas

What if we can always get better and that is our true purpose in life?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Those who seek a better life must first become a better person. Jim Rohn

Listening to Jordan Peterson in an interview yesterday, he said, “We have a moral obligation to be optimistic toward the future.” What would it mean to be optimistic about the future, and what does it mean not to be?

Some people go on like the sky is falling and everything will be ruined, and we may be in for hard times. Some of our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents went through hard times but through it all they moved toward better, and why are we thinking we can’t move toward better too?

We should always be moving towards better, but that doesn’t mean mistakes aren’t made, unintended consequences don’t occur, and we don’t have to regroup and reorient ourselves. How can we make this year better than last year? Spending our time worrying about what someone else has to do won’t make our lives better, we might feel we can analyze world affairs better than those tasked with the job, but I’m pretty sure it’s hubris on my part to think I see things the people in charge don’t see. How to make things better is for the people in charge to interpret and implement, and we will see the results in the fullness of time, some things they will do well, but there will be mistakes and missteps, and there will be no matter who is in power.

Since most of us have no impact on governance other than our vote, and many don’t exercise our vote, does complaining give us a sense of power? Do we waste our time complaining about what we can’t change instead of changing what we can? It seems like a thankless job to pour your heart and soul into running a city, province, or country; do we need to be grateful people are willing to step up and take on the challenge? How could anyone make most of us happy? Good governance might not be about making the people happy, but doing what is best for the city, province, or country, and what is best might make many people unhappy.

You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. Marcus Aurelius

We know the government isn’t run perfectly but is our life? I see improvements I can make, but it is easier to complain about what someone else should do than to do what I can do. Perfection is the enemy of the good, and things could be so much worse. I have to remind myself to be grateful for how things are because it is a miracle we have the lives we have, with the conveniences, opportunities, and security we enjoy.

Jordan Peterson tells us we shouldn’t take for granted things going right because they could as easily, or more easily be going in the other direction. How often have we felt something could have been catastrophic, but somehow we escaped?

Are we all wandering in the wilderness; why else are self-help books so popular? Do we need to come upon a burning bush to set our feet on solid ground, find a purpose, and work on becoming better? What would our lives look like if we improved something every year? How would our relationships, health, and interactions in the community improve? Who would we encourage, and whose lives would be better because our lives touched theirs?

Jordan Peterson talked about firing on all cylinders, and he was asked how many cylinders there are. Maybe an unlimited amount was his answer. What if this is true and finding the right cylinders for us is the challenge? What if we can make a difference in our own and others’ lives? What if being better is truly possible if we choose to make it our goal?

You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. Jim Rohn

When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves. Viktor E. Frankl

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it. Maya Angelou

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Posted on by BWThomas

Find meaning in the small things, everyone can do something to make life better for someone.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. Michael Jordan

What if Jordan Peterson is right, a mother can only be as happy as her most miserable child. What if this is true about society as well? What if we don’t want to see the terrible toll drugs are taking on our society because to look away means we don’t have to acknowledge a society that isn’t working for everyone?

What would it take for society to work for everyone? What would it take for someone to exchange meaninglessness for meaning? How must the change makers of the past have felt when they brought meaningful change to hurting souls? When they had a cause they believed in that would make life better – not for themselves, but for people they didn’t know, and weren’t born yet.

Where do we find meaning in our lives? Do we find it through service to others, our families, our community, and the greater society? Our society with all that is wrong with it, has many people who feel the hurts of others and want to help. The problem might be we are misusing empathy. He who is compassionate to the cruel will ultimately become cruel to the compassionate. Jewish folk saying

I’ve been listening to speeches from the ARC Conference (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship). Have we lost our way as a civilization and need to return to what helped us build a great civilization, but not a perfect one? It might be true we will always have the poor, but relative poverty is not the same as abject poverty.

Society grows and changes and we have to grow and change with it, but we have to keep the moral compass that has kept us moving forward for thousands of years. If we lose our faith in ourselves, our religion, and our society we will be ripe for other ideologies to take over. We have seen other ideologies rising, but we haven’t seen other ideologies create better societies. I think it is time for a revival of meaning and values and this is what ARC (Alliance for Responsible Citizenship) offers.

Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears. Les Brown

Working farms are being used as tools to overcome addiction. An active working farm resembles a life of recovery in that the work is never complete. Having grown up on a farm I can see how caring for animals, fields, and daily chores could help someone build a life of sobriety and meaning.

The other day, I heard someone mocking the idea of working for free on a farm to achieve sobriety. Would they rather see them on the street addicted to drugs? It is hard to know how to fix hurting souls, but if all we want to do is tear down other people’s ideas, how do we move forward?

We know working with animals helps people heal. We know meaningful routines are good for us. We know we need to remove ourselves from the environment that causes the problem. We know farm life is considered by many to be a wholesome life, and this might be exactly what addicts need. On a farm, they could find meaning, and structure, and be part of something bigger than themselves which will prepare them to go back out into the world, as a person with a contribution to make.

What if we are moving into a new era of people finding hope, meaning, and faith? Finding faith in themselves, a higher power, and faith in their countries, communities, and the world, and this is the antidote to a hurting world? We sometimes think people of faith are small-minded, but what if they are the big-minded people, not all of them, but enough to be the change we need? What if we can do all things through God who strengthens us? What if hope and promise are here, what if the future is bright?

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Dale Carnegie

If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself. Henry Ford

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently – they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius… Steve Jobs

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Posted on by BWThomas

Families build our society, anything destroying families, destroys society.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

The family is the basis of society. As the family is, so is the society, and it is human beings who make a family not the quantity of them, but the quality of them. Ashley Montagu

Do we need a day to celebrate our families? Every day do we celebrate them in some way? Being a grandparent gives us a fuller sense of family as we watch our children become parents our lives become fuller, richer, and deeper.

Some people think they are too young to be a grandparent, we are however old we are, and being a grandparent shouldn’t make us feel older, it should gladden our hearts in ways we can’t imagine. A friend is waiting for her twin grandchildren to be born, double the fun, and double the joy.

We have a short time on this earth, and there is much to fit in, but what is more important than family? One might even wonder why we do the other things; if not for family. If we are fortunate we come from a close-knit family, whether large or small, and we build a close-knit family of our own.

Is Family Day hard for those who gave up on family because of disagreements, unmet expectations, or misunderstandings? If we talk to people who built families and stayed together, we know it wasn’t always easy, because life has its ups and downs, for all of us.

Of all the days we celebrate, and let’s be honest someone or many people wanted a holiday in February, but I do love celebrating family day because the family is the building block of society, the very foundation of all we have built.

The family is the cornerstone of our society. More than any other force it shapes the attitude, the hopes, the ambitions, and the values of the child. And when the family collapses it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale the community itself is crippled. Lynden B. Johnson

Do we need to celebrate our families, embrace the forces bringing us together, and minimize the forces tearing them apart? We might not agree on everything that will make our families and society stronger, but strengthening families strengthens everything about our society. Billy Graham told us, “When the family is destroyed, society eventually disintegrates.”

What do we need to say no to, and what do we need to say yes to, to strengthen our family, and if each family can be a little stronger won’t the whole society become stronger? What practices and beliefs if we follow them will help us strengthen our family through the generations, and what practices and beliefs will weaken our families? Do we need to make the right choices while we still have an impact on our family?

Are we proud of our families, what we’ve built, what’s been accomplished, and what we want future generations to accomplish?

For some, family day will be hard because someone is missing, Mom or Dad’s chair is empty, or worse a child’s, but is celebrating by getting together better than mourning alone?

Without a family, man, alone in the world, trembles with the cold. Andre Maurois

The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only – and that is to support the ultimate career. C.S. Lewis

The family is the test of freedom; because the family is the only thing that the free man makes for himself and by himself. Gilbert K. Chesterton

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Posted on by BWThomas

Crisis creates opportunity. We should never waste a crisis.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Opportunity is everywhere. The key is to develop the vision to see it. Jeremiah Say

Crisis creates opportunity, and even if we don’t take advantage of the opportunities they are still there and someone else will take advantage of them. How often do we look back over our lives and think I was there but didn’t see it? Many of us have been waiting for opportunities but only looking back do we see the opportunities that came our way.

I look at other lives and think why didn’t I see what they saw, what was I thinking when X was happening, why didn’t I jump on board?

How big of a life can we live if we are opportunity seekers and opportunity takers?

It’s time to start thinking about planting seeds, in our gardens and lives. The seeds we plant, like the thoughts we think will bear fruit. Are we planting for one season or for years to come? Are we planting something that will bring a blessing to generations?

My son tells me we are the worst generation; he thinks we haven’t been very interested in the legacy we leave behind. We haven’t been the builders but instead the users, not the conservers of what we inherited.

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Winston Churchill

How do we look at what is happening in the world without fear? If it is possible, we have to have faith we can deal with what is coming, that embedded in chaos and crisis is opportunity. We need faith in our traditions that have helped build lives based on courage, fortitude, and trust.

We know if life is to be better for us, it has to be better for others. What does better look like, is it one more big purchase, one more memorable holiday, or is it building for the next generation? What choices need to be made as individuals and society to build better? Do we trust life can continue to improve for coming generations?

What would our grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents think of what we’ve built? Some of the good is very, very good, but some of the bad is very, very bad. How can we build a society with less of the very, very bad?

Why when we have an array of choices do some of us choose the very worst of what is on offer and others choose the very best, while still others muddle somewhere in the middle?

A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Francis Bacon

Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Napoleon Hill

Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you. John C. Maxwell

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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

Competition and national interests.

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

In almost every case, whenever a tariff or quota is imposed on imports, that tax is strongly supported by the domestic industry getting the protective shield from lower-priced foreign competition. The sugar industry supports sugar tariffs, textile mills lobby for tariffs on foreign clothing. Stephen Moore

Who gets to weigh in on this conflict between America and the rest of the world? As a common person, I’m throwing out my two cents. What if what we are most afraid of will make us stronger and more resilient? What if we grow from adversity and become complacent with ease? What if all the angst can be harnessed for good and we will all come out better on both sides of the border?

What if self-reliance is needed because reliance on others means we can’t always get what we need? What if the price of a bargain is too expensive? What if fair trade and not free trade is what we need? What does fair trade look like, and is fair according to whom?

What if this trade war with America costs my household, but Canadians start doing things we should have been doing, we might all prosper in the end. We finish the pipelines to export our oil and natural gas to the world. We secure our borders.  We build houses, build up our country, and make things work. What if the kick in the pants we need comes from South of the border?

I listened to an interview with Jean Chretien, who served as Canada’s Prime Minister from 1993 – 2003 and turned 91 on February 1st. He tells us this is nothing new, we’ve always had trade wars with America, and he started dealing with America in 1968. What we sell to America they need.

There’s no such thing as a genius in politics, or at least I have never met one. There are only human beings, some better than others, who rise or fall on the challenges they meet. Jean Chretien

This might be a glass half empty, half full moment, and we choose to look at it either way. We have good people to negotiate for Canada, we have to trust they will do their best, and we also have to trust that America does not want to throw a wrecking ball into the parts of our joint economies that work tightly together. We must stay calm, Canada is not going to be the 51st state. Will we end up better because we get our house in order?

Let me tell you, my fellow countrymen, that all the signs point this way, that the 20th century shall be the century of Canada and Canadian development… For the next 100 years, Canada shall be the star towards which all men who love progress and freedom shall come. Sir Wilfrid Laurier October 14, 1904

A weaker currency is a national tariff. After we get a weaker currency, we have to take advantage of that. Or else, we will waste it once more in inflation and in the inability to raise competitiveness. Uday Kotak

Everybody talks about tariffs as the first thing. Tariffs are the last thing. Tariffs are part of the negotiation. The real trick is going to be increasing American exports. Get rid of the tariff and no-tariff barriers to American exports. Wilbur Ross

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Thank you for reading my books, and a special thanks for leaving 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

The courage to be disliked, is this something we all need to develop?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you. William Arthur Ward

The courage to be disliked doesn’t sound like something we want. But too many of us suffer from people pleasing and it is impossible to please everyone. It takes courage to please ourselves and be the person we think we should be, do what we can, and make peace with what we can’t, knowing everyone won’t be happy.

I finished listening to the book, “The Courage To Be Disliked” by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga, it is a book on Adlerian psychology. I’ll have to listen to it several times to take in everything, and I have the hard copy for reference. One of the big ideas in the book is all our problems are interpersonal, our relationships are where most of our problems lie, but also where we get the most happiness from, and one of the big relationships we need to master is with ourselves.

One surprising thing mentioned was neither, to rebuke or praise our children, but instead to thank them when they do something right. Why wouldn’t we want to praise our little grandson for going to the potty instead of in his pants? What about when he doesn’t make it to the potty? Praise is judgment but gratitude is not, and gratitude and respect are how we want to be dealt with. I’ve never thought of praise as, “the passing of judgment by a person of ability on a person of no ability, or lesser ability.”

Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem. If you need encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody, then you make everybody your judge. Frederick Salomon Peris

My grandson helps do something and he gets praise, but my husband does the same thing and he gets thanks, would it be better if we give thanks to everyone helping us regardless of age and ability? When we praise or rebuke, we use a carrot or a stick as manipulation tools. In equal relationships, we use gratitude and respect, but in unequal ones, we use praise and rebuke. Encouragement helps people shoulder their responsibilities and take responsibility for their lives.

This is giving me a lot to think about and when I think about Mom and Dad’s parenting there was not a lot of praise for doing what needed to be done. We were part of the family and had chores from an early age and we heard, “Many hands make light work.”

If we get used to hearing a lot of praise from an early age, we may always crave praise, which is someone else’s judgment, instead of relying on our judgment, is this how we become people pleasers?

If we can build relationships where we are equal but not the same it seems this might go a long way toward fixing some of the inequalities and injustice in society. We told our children from an early age, you can be equal or you can be special, but you can’t be both. Do we live in a society where specialness is desired over equality leading to a lot of problems?

Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms or legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry and not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude. Nick Vujicic

Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty. Doris Day

According to my principles, every master has his true and certain value. Praise and criticism cannot change any of that. Only the work itself praises and criticizes the master, and therefore I leave to everyone his own value. Carl Philipp Emanuel Back

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Thank you for reading my books, and a special thank you to those who leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. 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

Is it the best of times, the worst of times, or does our attitude make it so?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

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

Today a new President of the United States is sworn in and the world trembles, or will these next four years pass with some good and some not so good happening, with unexpected consequences benefiting some and harming others?

Do we have faith we can deal with the challenges ahead? No one knows what is ahead, but we all know it will be different. We see change is coming, 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 stop the changes.

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, and some we aren’t worrying about will hit us with a force that brings us to our knees.

Is faith what will get us through, faith in ourselves, our countries, our fellow citizens, and our governments? Do we have 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 life 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 like 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. Our choices might be 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.

What are we reaping today because of policies that seemed good? Are we too short-sighted to know what the best policies are? What does a fair and just society look like and are we closer or further away from one than we were years ago?

Policies are in place and many were made with the best of intentions. When we see 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. But we don’t know, we can’t know what the unintended consequences of our best intentions will be.

Even if we fear what the future holds can we be grateful for what we have? Building our country and making life better for our citizens is the government’s job. We need to trust the leadership we’ve chosen, and as we choose new leadership make the best choice, and have faith that they will do their best.

Is it best to hope for the best, and prepare for the worst?

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

Canada an American State or America a Canadian Province?

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

Canada-American relations for many years did not develop spontaneously. The example of accord provided by our two countries did not come about merely through the happy circumstances of geography. It is compounded of one part proximity and nine parts goodwill and common sense. Harry Truman

Donald Trump is having a moment at Canada’s expense. He might not be able to unite Americans, but he’s bringing forth a rallying cry in Canada. In four years we might thank him for the greater unity we experience because we often don’t appreciate what we have until we think it is threatened.

America has always wanted more territory and felt its manifest destiny was divinely ordained to settle the entire continent of North America. Of course, North America was all one at one time, and America left and became the prodigal son. They got rid of a King and yet have always seemed to want one.

They even have the hubris to be insulted we don’t want to be a state, yet we are not insulted they don’t want to be a province?

America is not our enemy but they have not bought our goods because they are being nice to us. We have relied on them, they were an easy market, and now it is being thrown in our face. America is not our problem, we are our problem, America spurred us on before and perhaps they will spur us on again to become what we can be. Not poor little Canada beside the great America which is how some of us, and some of them, see us.

We’ve prided ourselves on good government and must return to that. We need to trade with the world, and we need to protect our borders. Our Prime Minister said we don’t have a core identity, is it any wonder the Americans want to give us one?

If I had influence over the minds of the people of Canada, any power over their intellect, I would leave them this legacy. Whatever you do, adhere to the union. We are a great country, and shall become one of the greatest in the universe, if we preserve it. We shall sink into insignificance and adversity if we suffer it to be broken.  John A. Macdonald

We may not like Trump for his views on Canada, but we are stuck with him for the next four years. We can live with him and like it, or live with him and hate it, but we can’t change him or America. He got elected to do what is best for America, not what is best for Canada. We need to elect someone who will do the best for Canada, a leader who sees a great destiny for Canada. We are a lot more than just not an American State. We have to build the Canada we want, and have the potential to be.

There is another way to look at this; Trump has upset many with his tempest in a teapot with Panama, Greenland, and Canada. He isn’t even the President yet, why is this being mentioned now, and how is this going to serve him? We don’t know what his reasons are, and some might think I’m giving him the credit he doesn’t deserve, but are we supposed to be upset about this, so we aren’t upset about something else? When he is President, and none of this happens, will what he does want to do seem reasonable?

Is he playing chess while some of us don’t know what we are playing? It’s good advice to not underestimate your opponent, keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. Interesting times are ahead, each country has to do what is best for them, and with adept leadership, Canada will remain the true North, strong and free.

When I’m in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like. Jane Fonda

Our country has everything required to be a global leader in physical, food and energy security. We have an incredibly rich resource inheritance. We have a diverse, educated and peaceful population. We’re located far from most conflicts and we’re next door to the world’s richest nation. Perrin Beatty

We are the second-largest country on Earth, which means that we have the second largest, or perhaps even the largest, stock of natural resources on the planet – an enormous source of strength and responsibility if we would only recognize it, capitalize on it, and make its future development and stewardship a national priority. Preston Manning

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Posted on by BWThomas

Letting our light shine and becoming a lighthouse, not a weather vane!

Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas

How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. William Shakespeare

What changes will we make this year, what changes will happen we didn’t choose but must deal with?

I’m reading, “The Other 90%,” by Robert K. Cooper. He says his grandfather asked him two questions when he was still a young boy to help him be his best.

What is the most exceptional thing you’ve done this week?

What’s the most exceptional thing you will do next week?

That is putting ourselves on the spot and we might not have an answer but if we made it part of our mission to do one noteworthy thing a week we could probably do it. Even asking ourselves the question might help us better orient ourselves in the world, especially if we are getting to the age where we have the joy and privilege of interacting with our grandchildren.

We might decide like Robert Cooper’s grandfather did after having his third heart attack. He’d lived by the motto, “Give the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.” In living a life where he got very good at fitting in and going along he thought he was giving life his best. Still, after three heart attacks, he began to look at life differently and wondered what kind of life he could have had if he’d kept looking deeper and questioned yesterday’s definition of his best.

What if he’s right and we can learn more about the potential hidden inside of us? What if we can choose to be more than we’ve become? Listening to Tony Robbins last night he said more or less the same thing, if we continue to learn and develop throughout our lives, we will be capable of doing more things. There is always something to learn and it isn’t about fame and fortune although many people have found it by solving problems that need to be solved.

What if we are called to be a lighthouse and not a weather vane? I think of people who have been bright lights in my life. Hopefully, we’ve all had bright lights in our lives, and been a bright light in someone else’s. It might not be what we accomplish in life that is as important as that we are always moving toward something even if we never attain it.

All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. St. Francis of Assisi

If we dare ask ourselves tough questions and answer them how would we change our life? If we don’t like the answer to the question about what exceptional thing we did last week, last month, or last year, we could plan to do something we would be proud of. We might make a call we’ve been putting off, heal a breach in a relationship, or implement a plan we’ve been thinking about.

We need to keep growing, what if, “Our life is a garden, our thoughts are the seeds, we can plant flowers, or we can plant weeds,” is true? Many beautiful gardens become unkempt, what if one of our biggest jobs is to become better with age, and be a lighthouse to those coming after us? Can we become a light in our little corner of the world, where it matters most, in our families?

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. Amanda Gorman

Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read 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 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.