Over

If you could start your life over, what would you change?

Some say they would not change a thing only be more daring.

When you have a life altering event, it gives you pause to reflect.

What I discovered is that I can not change the past, one must live

with the decisions made.

Although I can change what I do in the future and change

my reactions to things that happen in the present.

Today is a gift from God enjoy it.

May God bless you,

When you lose someone you can’t say that is will get better can you?

Can you say that it gets easier to get through the day but the loved one is with you always?

I remember my grandmother. I am the oldest grandchild and the only one who knew her.

She gave the best hugs and would push a chair up to the stove and let me stir the milk gravy.

Try as I might, I can’t recall what her voice sounded like. She had a brain tumor.

I remember her coming home from the hospital with a shaved head and a bandage.

Ma did not have to speak for me to feel her love and even after a lifetime without her, 

miss her. That is love.

Summer

Sat out on the patio yesterday just to enjoy the sun.


Now that spring is here and summer is around the corner it's time


to pack up winter duds and get out some cooler things.



While changing seasons, this is a good time to sort through winter clothes.


Wash and repair all those still in good shape.


TRASH any that have seen better days, be honest.


Anything that you did not wear this past season, donate.


See how easy now you are ready to do the same with the clothes


you took out of storage.


Be sure to make a list of what you need.


Sounds like a shopping trip to me.

Flaws

FLAWS

            My shoe melted from being in storage. The heat got to it. Note I said shoe. One shoe is fine but since they come in pairs it caused a problem. They were new shoes, I cut the price tag off after I unpacked them. My dilemma, after I spent the money, should I wear the shoes at least once? They had a flaw. Granted it was on the inside of the foot. Would anyone notice besides me?

            My sister had a birthmark larger than your hand on her upper left thigh. It never kept her from wearing shorts and she didn’t seem to be self-conscious about it. I met a woman who had a similar birthmark but hers was on her face. I wondered… OK. She dealt with it and I never asked her about it so I will not presume.

            We all have flaws or things we don’t like about ourselves. We have choices, deal with it,

ignore it or change something. I didn’t like my attitude so I am trying to change it. It is not that easy to do but it sure feels better than gripping and complaining.

Take Time

Make time for yourself. You are important and your needs must be met if you are to grow into the individual that you want to be.

Make a place for yourself, a retreat where you can go when you need alone time. It is alright to recharge your batteries.

It is alright just to be.

Are you comfortable where you are, doing the same thing or do you want more?     

  

Are you happy or content with your life? What does being happy mean to you?

Are you making excuses for things that happen or don’t happen?

            If you know where you are, what is holding you back from the life you want?

TO DO LIST

            I have a to-do list, things that I need to accomplish.

Problem is that after I take one thing off the list, it seems I add three more.

I wonder what would happen if I ditched my to-do list and did things as they needed to be done.

I know, there is not enough time to do all that needs to be done so one must put some things

off until tomorrow.

            What if I added fun things on my to-do list? Watch the sunset, drink a glass of tea with

a friend or call and tell my family they are loved.

            To-do list may be necessary but include what makes you feel good as well.

I Forgot

Forgot

                This morning I made the coffee, it is a fancy machine where you heat the water before you make the coffee. Well, I forgot to heat the water before letting the machine perk. The mess that dripped through looked more like weak tea than a strong brew and it was cold; so much for starting the day out right with a nice cup of coffee. Guess I will just have toast. I put the bread in the toaster and moved to clean up the coffee debacle. The toast stuck and burnt sending smoke around the kitchen. Flaying at the rising smoke with a dishtowel proved futile as the smell enveloped me and settled on everything. I had to open the door to get the smoke out. Forgot the alarm code and sent the wail through the house.

Time to do laundry, I put the clothes in the washing machine and closed the lid. When I come back to throw the clothes in the dryer, I discover I forgot to turn it on. Out to check the mail, no need to worry about the alarm. HA. I find the letters I had put in the box back in my box, unsent. Seems I forgot to affix a stamp to send them on their way.

Passing by the hall mirror, I see that I had put my shirt on wrong side out because I forgot to turn it right side out. Could this day get any worse? I doubt it. Lunch was delayed because someone forgot to turn the burner on. Noon found me totally frustrated and the house still smelled like burnt toast. I find myself snapping at Bud and he has this puzzled look on his face. I feel light headed and my stomach is growling. In the hubbub of the morning, I had forgotten to eat lunch.

Bud doesn’t deserve to be a victim of my forgetfulness and neither do I. I got Bud settled to watch his favorite morning show and decided to hit the rewind on my day. I slip into my pajamas and went back to bed, pulled the cover over my head and looked for the reset button.             I am going to see if I can find my memory button and start this day all over again, on a more positive not this time.

Don’t laugh! I just found out that I am not as old as I thought I was. What a marvelous concept. It is not that I am losing my mind; has more to do with the fact that when I turned 50, I made a big deal of celebrating.  Every day for a week, I did something different with various friends and family. Activities included: eating the prize winning Jambalaya for the year, grilling in the back yard and having cake with my grown children at 11pm. The kids made the 8 hour trip after work to spend the day with me. Each day was special. Since, I haven’t kept track of my age. Not that I think that it’s all down hill, just that I have been busy doing lots of things that I had put off doing.  Turning 50 was a wake up call to access where I had been, where I was and to motivate me to accomplish something if I was so inclined. When you set your mind to see what you can do, great things happen.

                Now I discover that I have a whole year to be this age again, it doesn’t get any better. What shall I do with my year? Shall I make all the mistakes that I previously made; quite possible. There are things I would do differently if I could go back. I can’t go back but I can try to be better at what I do the second time around. This time, I will reach out and challenge new opportunities that come my way. I will grab live and hold on. I’m not as old as I thought I was so I am going to act as young as I am, even if that is over 50. :-)

Take Care of You

Do you take care of yourself or are you at the bottom of your to do list? So often our needs

are pushed aside as so many other things demand our time and attention, it has become a

habit to put ourselves last. It’s OK to take time for yourself; like on a plane when you are told

to put the mask on yourself first then help others. God wants you to take time for yourself

and make time to spend with Him. You need time alone to rejuvenate: mind, body and spirit.

It’s not selfish to put yourself first as we have been raised to think. It’s crucial that you take

care of yourself so you can continue to take care of others

Getting Help When Needed

Getting paid once a month is hard, there is no wiggle room for mistakes. Getting January’s 

check the last day of school in December is harder because it must last until February.

            

I diligently kept track of every penny. Maybe I had just a little extra to see that the kids had gifts for 

Christmas. Want became need when my daughter had to have a new coat.

I sent my insurance payment only to discover that I had just enough money to cover the 

check. With two weeks until payday, how could I get milk and bread without money? I don’t 

talk about financial problems but I was so upset that I let it slip.

           

 I stopped by the post office, an envelope with no return address contained $20; enough to tide me 

over until I got paid. I couldn’t thank the sender so I began to watch for ways to help others without 

them knowing it, sort of pay it forward and keep their dignity intact.

Chicken Run

Mardi Gras just passed. How would you rather write about it? Could you tell the story of                      ‘The Chicken Run’  and the folks dressed in costume with dancing and eating gumbo or would you want to write about the carnival atmosphere that is New Orleans? You may think only of the parades and the cries for “Throw me something mister,” that ring through the air as the parades make their way down the street. If you have never experienced the feeling in the air it may not be that easy to get it down on paper.                      

                   Suppose I told you of sitting on the sidewalk for hours as the parade made slow progress down the street or waited and waited and the floats were delayed. Waiting in the cold or drizzling rain can be frustrating, you know what it is like to have set for hours only to hear the thunder come and see lighting streak across the sky knowing that it is the sound of doom for the parade?          

Accomplishment

Occasionally, I make a batch of cookies so that I can have a feeling of completion.

Writing is a long process. It can take a long time to finish a project.

            Lost everything not really. 

You may have lost material possessions but if you and your loved ones 

are safe you can replace the other stuff. 

Lost everything when you lose hope or lose sight of God.

Do angels Take Naps in Heaven

Available on Amazon

Treating the Symptoms

Treating the Symptoms Not Taking Care of the Problem

                        In pain, the doctor gives you a medication to alleviate the symptom. What caused the pain? Is there a plan to discover what exactly caused the problem in the first place? It is so much easier to just fix the symptoms than to dig deep and find out what the problem is. Think this is only for medical problems, think again. If you have an issue in your life, how easy is it for you to discover what is at the root and fix it. We have a tendency to either ignore the problem until it can no longer be ignored or we run from the situation, thinking that time and space will make the problem go away. Neither works and both can be detrimental in the long run.                           

               For instance, you have chest pain and you put it off thinking it is just indigestion. You chomp down on antacids until you have a full-blown heart attack. Happens more than you think.

The faucet drips, you take a wrench and tighten it. One day the pipe burst and your bathroom is flooded. See I told you putting things off is not always the best policy.

            How do you get the doctor to take you seriously that something is wrong? Be persistent. Be your own advocate. Be informed. Doctors are only human and if you don’t stand up for yourself, no one else will until it could be too late.

How Well Do You Care for You?

How well do you take care of yourself?

Do you take a retreat every year- 3 days or more, to spend time reflecting and getting your life back in focus?

Do you have a day or an afternoon every month to catch up on things?

Does Sunday find you resting?

Each day, do you find time to spend with the Lord in prayer and study?

Does Sunday find you resting?

You haven’t met your spiritual and emotional needs. Do you neglect

your physical needs as well?

Do you schedule annual physicals, mammograms, bone density, glucose testing etc?

Do you exercise 3- 5 times a week?

Is your blood pressure under control and weight within a normal range?

What about daily needs? Do you take care of them? Food? Water? Medications? Family Relations?

Do you let your family and friends know how much they mean to you: phone, visit, e-mail, small 

gifts, prayers for their needs.

STRESS                      CARE of SELF                       GETTING HELP
what it is                      time alone                               family

Destressers                  diet                                          financial

Exercise                       organize                                   friends

Results if                     time management                    neighbors

You don’t                                                                   church

Stress eating

What you need? Write questions on cards

Strength          Isaiah 40: 31 neither faint nor is weary

                        Psalm 18: 34 bow of bronze