Inspiration

I have tried to write this post several times. I start and then delete it because I worry about how it will sound or what someone might think. This explains the large gap between now and my last post. I figured I better just write it down or I would never post again.

I love inspirational stories. My movie shelf is full of movies that are inspiring. Same with my bookshelf. You are probably wondering why this was so hard for me to write about. What I have been struggling with is the fact that all of us do exceptional things in our lives. Maybe not to the degree that will get Disney to make it into a movie or will be put into a best selling book, but its still something that could inspire someone else.

There are people in this world who are going through very difficult times. Sometimes those people are our neighbors or even our friends. A story of triumph over adversity just might be what they need to push through their hardship.

(Here's where I quit and delete) A few years back I was asked to be the administrator of our local nursing home. I thought it was a great opportunity but there was a small problem. I needed a four year degree. I had attended a community college for two years but never quite finished my transfer degree. After much discussion with my husband, the plan was to finish up the class I needed for my transfer degree then attend a four year school. Since we don't live near a four year school the plan was to take the classes on line. Oh and the best part was I needed to be done as fast as possible. I finished up the transfer degree in about three months and then proceeded to start on my four year degree. I figured out how I could get this done in a little over a year. I didn't quit my job or stop being a mother (housework did suffer greatly I will admit).

Fast forward one year. I just about met my goal but I had one class to finish. I was about 1/2 way through it when the owners of the nursing home came to visit. They gathered everyone together and explained that they were closing the doors. Talk about devastating. I didn't want to finish up my class, I just wanted to quit. After a lot of encouragement from my husband, I went ahead and finished the class and got my degree. The nursing home closed and I found other work and eventually ended up where I am now in a much better job.

Why share this story? I don't know if it is inspiring, that's something you will have to decide. The point was to show that we all overcome things in our lives. Some small like me and others are huge. I would like to ask that you share with me your inspiring story. Yes I really want to hear it. You don't have to give names or any details you don't want to give.

"The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities."

It's how you tell the story

Everyday I get e-mails with positive quotes or uplifting stories in them. Today I got a story about golf. It talked about these great things this golfer did. Then, he said this.

"What I didn't talk about were all the balls that landed in the woods and didn't bounce out. I didn't mention the trophy I won for the most lost balls in one round. Jim doesn't know I lost the hole-in-one ball in the woods on my next shot, and he doesn't know that the day I got four birdies, my final score was twenty-two over par."

He didn't share all the negative when he talked about his golf game, he shared the positive. We all have positive and negative things in our lives. Where is our focus?

I quit watching the news because out of 30-40 minutes of news, you get 5 minutes of positive and all the rest is the negative, nasty things in this world. But what do we talk about when we get the chance? Are we sharing the positive in our lives or are we dumping our negative experiences on our friends, family, co-workers?

"Life is hard - life is good. It's how you tell the story." ~Michael T. Smith

Opinion

"Every man is a fool in some man's opinion” ~Spanish Proverb

I read something this morning that got me thinking about opinions. I've spent a lot of time in my life worrying about other people's opinions. Family, friends, even strangers sometimes. How do I look? Am I doing what I'm suppose to be doing? What do they think of me? Finally, I've come to realize that the person's opinion I need to worry about is my own. Is what I'm doing in line with my beliefs? Are my actions moving me in the direction I want to go or taking me down another path? Will this lead me closer to living my soul purpose?

I've decided that the things that I want to do in my life probably won't be looked at by others as "normal" or "right'" but that's ok. I know that there are things that I have been put on this earth to do and when it's all said and done I will have to answer for my actions. I don't think the excuse "people didn't think it was a good idea" is really going to fly. When I am gone from this earth I want to be remembered as someone who made a difference.

The purpose of life is not to be happy - but to matter, to be productive, to be useful, to have it make some difference that you have lived at all. ~Leo Rosten

Gratitude

As I was pondering this morning I realized that there were many years of my life when I was very ungrateful. I wanted something more, which is OK really, but I wanted these things to the point that I would forget about all the blessings I had in my life.'

I realized today that I still want things. I could probably list 15 or 20 things off the top of my head, but I am very grateful for what I have right now. That list might take me a little longer to come up with, but I bet it would be longer than my list of wants.

God has truly blessed me in this life and while I want to do better and have more, I know that I need to stop and remember and be thankful for all that he has given me. Right now, today.

The Dream Giver

I just finished reading the book The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson. He also wrote The Prayer of Jabez. I loved the book. What a great story. It really put things into perspective for me.

So many times I've wanted to pursue a dream. In the early years, I let people talk me out of it. You know, your friends and family who only have your best interests at heart, but they steal your dream. Sounds harsh I know, but it really is true. Unless your dream is to be the world's biggest drug dealer (or something along those lines) what harm is there in going after it.

As I got older and read more, I got to a place where what people thought of my dream didn't matter, but I still gave up because it was hard. Things didn't work out right away, or I failed. What I didn't understand is that there is some learning involved before you get to live your dream. As much as I wanted to believe I had it all figured out, there is so much more to know.

Now, I understand about learning but there's still more. There comes a point where you have to go all in. Are you willing to do whatever needs to be done, make the sacrifices that need to be made and have faith it will work out.

This is where I'm at. I'm standing on the edge, trying to decide if I am willing to give all I can to make my dream work. After struggling all these years, it's hard to put yourself out there one more time. It's hard to push away the doubts and the negative and focus on the big picture. I know it will be worth it, but sometimes I just wish it was easy.

Time

"The only thing even in this world are the number of hours in a day. The difference in winning or losing is what you do with those hours."
Woody Hayes

I sometimes feel like other people must have so much more time that I do because they are able to do so much. But we all have the same number of hours in a day, it comes down to how we choose to use them. I find myself focusing on what I can't seem to get done rather than focusing on doing the best I can. I have also realized that sometimes you have to get up off the couch even when you don't feel like it. It's so easy for me to come home from work tired and use that as an excuse to not do anything. Then I'm kicking myself for not getting things done. Usually a few focused minutes will go along way.

I've got too many things that I need to accomplish that I will use my time productively. I'll get my relaxing time, I always do. This way, I can relax without feeling like I've let myself down.

Stress

Have you ever had something weighing on your mind? The last week and a half have been really difficult. We had an issue to resolve at work and boy was it hard. Nothing I can go into here, but lets just say I have been under some stress.

What I didn't realize is how much it effected me outside of work. I caught a cold, I felt tired all the time even after eight hours of sleep, I just really did not want to do anything or be around anyone. (not so good when you have a family)

Now that the situation has past, I look back and realize that I felt the stress because I wanted things to work out one way and there was really no way that was going to happen. I find myself trying to fix things and sometimes you just have to accept things the way they are. It doesn't mean you've failed it just means that you can't control the situation.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are
challenged to change ourselves. ~Victor Frankl

I now have my challenge. It's me that needs to change. Each day needs to have some time set aside to focus on personal growth. Not always easy to do, but I think that it's got to feel way better than how I've been feeling these last few days!!