Thoughts of the Day
My life has qualified me as "experienced" on such topics as Army life, parenting, mental health, loss and grief, multi-tasking, and adapting to all things new (good, bad, or indifferent). I will share my thoughts on these topics and hopefully you will find some calm in the chaos knowing that others have been where you are.
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Happy Independence Day, America: May We Continue to Make Progress
As we are sitting in the midst of the craziest year on record in the lives of most of us, I think today is an important day to reflect upon the nature of progress. Progress comes forth through conflict, in one way or another. Whether it is personal progress that arises from some internal conflict or the progress of our entire species that is born from major conflicts in the world, we need this conflict to push us forward. Without it, we would simply remain exactly where we are as we are. And that is not necessarily a good thing. Change and progress are necessary for the survival of the…
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The True West: Children’s Book Review & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #178
How much do we really know about the prominent characters who were instrumental in settling the American West? More importantly, how many of us realize that many of the renowned figures from the American West were women and minorities? Historians have estimated that 1 in 4 cowboys during the settling of the Wild West were black, latino, Native American, or women. So why have their powerful and inspiring stories not been given the same amount of attention as the white European men who also played an enormous role in settling the American West? Well, you don’t have to answer that last question because I am certain we all know the…
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No One is Listening & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #177
I feel like no one is listening. I feel like everyone just wants their own voice to be heard. I feel like we are all just screaming at each other. And the result is completely ineffective communication. How can we possibly view an issue from all angles and make appropriate considerations that will result in successful changes if we are so unwilling to even hear what anyone else has to say? Changes happen on a million different levels. From within ourselves which is then filtered down to our children and extended out to our personal networks. Change will grow from there. Outward, upward, downward, and inward. When we patiently and…
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Are You Doing Enough to Strengthen Your Local Community?
A lot of people misunderstand what it means to engage in their local communities. For many people, their local communities are all they have when it comes to safety, peace of mind, and sometimes even entertainment. Smaller communities tend to be closer-knit compared to city communities despite people living further away from each other. Places like parks and stores become communal meeting spots and you can often rely on neighbors to help you with different tasks from watching your dog to offering their expertise on a DIY project. But strengthening communities is something that lies in the hands of the people. It’s something that needs to be initiated by the…
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The Meaning and Purpose of Life & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #176
Sunday, January 23, 2005. 11:11 p.m. I was reading The Heart of Philosophy by Jacob Needleman and I wrote a journal entry in response to it. But first, I need to set the stage… I was revisiting this journal from 15 years ago and what I found was an abundance of quotes jotted down from whatever books I was reading at the time. I followed a very strict and unwavering pattern in these entries. First, I would write the title and author of the book. Then when something would strike me from within the pages of that book, I would also write that down. Every time I wrote a quote…
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This is 46
Today is my birthday. Forty-six trips around the sun. More lessons than I have time to share. More experiences to enrich my existence. More time to learn about myself. More insight to make me a better version of me. I learned a long time ago that the best way to gain peace and clarity is thorough letting go. Letting go of the things which I cannot control. Having faith in powers which are stronger than me. Trusting the universe and her plan for me. And with each passing year, I feel more evolved, I feel more educated, I feel more relaxed, I feel more fulfilled. I feel more like myself.…
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Redemption Achieved
If you read my post yesterday, you will know that I momentarily forgot my husband’s birthday and sent him off to work completely unacknowledged. But I made up for my oversight by spending the day in the kitchen preparing some of his favorite things. Of course, it had to be the hottest day of the year so far with the temperature reaching almost 90 degrees outside and about 125 degrees inside my non-air conditioned kitchen! And to think, it was snowing just two and a half weeks ago. But it was all worth it in the end to see his smiling face when he walked in the door and spotted…
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Seeking Redemption & SpreadTheKindness Link Up #174
Today is a day that I will be seeking redemption…all day long. You see, between losing all track of the days in quarantine and then suffering from a severe abdominal issue yesterday (which turned out to be nothing more than really bad gas), I completely and totally forgot today was Jeff’s birthday. We woke as normal, went through all the normal morning routines, I kissed him good-bye as he left for work, and about an hour later I looked at the calendar and I gasped. And I cursed. A lot. And I sent off a hasty text message which could in no way make up for my oversight. The guilt…
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The Fab 40’s Meet My Inner Child
All too often it happens that we lose touch with the innocence and whimsy of the inner child that is the foundation upon which our adult selves have evolved. When that connection between inner child and responsible adult falters, life will just start killing you at too rapid a pace. As we get older and more and more obligations pile on, it becomes very easy to get disconnected from that childlike joy that was once the only kind of living we knew. You know, when we were actual children. Carefree and cared for, playful and guileless, spontaneous and absolutely inside every moment. Moral compasses are passed down like heirlooms and…
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Weekend Recap with Evolution CBD Cream & #SpreadTheKindness Link Up #172
This past weekend was quite a strange one from celebrating Mother’s Day in seclusion to some freaky snow storm that descended upon us. We woke up on Saturday morning to a winter wonderland, but fortunately it warmed enough to melt it all by Sunday morning. While snow in May is not uncommon where I live, by this point in the year I am really quite over it. So I was thankful that Mother’s Day was sunny and pleasant although a bit on the chilly side. We were able to head out to the park and take some photos of my Mother’s Day outfit while the kids rolled down the giant…
