Cheers to new beginnings

Everyday is a new day. A new beginning to your life with a fresh start. Well that is unless you choose to spend it thinking about what happened in your past. If you want a fresh start you have to JUST FLUSH IT, whatever it is so it doesn't spoil all your today's. Yesterday has already gone and tomorrow may never come. Today is yours to enjoy. So choose to enjoy today.

The thrill of the hunt

The children are ready for Easter morning to finally get here. They of course are anxious to see what the Easter bunny will fill their baskets with. They sure are looking forward to the thrill of the Easter egg hunt. They each excitedly describe in detail memories from past experiences. They can't seem to agree whether the outcome of the golden egg that was fought over was fair. As my grandaughter was climbing to retrieve the golden egg that she had spotted high in a tree the comotion got my grandsons attention. He is older than her and faster. He went as fast as lightning up into the tree and got the golden egg. There was crying and arguing over who it belong to. We decided the egg belonged to my granddaughter because she saw it first. But the problem for my gradson was that someone could see a brightly coloured egg from across the yard first but if someone else grabbed it first we wouldn't make them give it to them. I agree. But being half way up the tree and someone bigger and faster races behind you and reaches it first, well that is somehow different. What do you think ? Who should have gotten the golden egg? This year we will keep them out of the trees and we will have more than one golden egg.

You can always turn the channel

Our minds have an endless stream of thoughts that try to grab our attention. If you don't want it to grab your attention then Just Flush It at a quick glance. It's just like you change the channel on your television until you find something else that you do want to watch. You can't stop the variety of thoughts that streams through your mind no more than you can control what is on each channel. But you can choose which thoughts you allow to grab your attention. If a thought evokes a negative feeling then it will have a negative impact on you. And since you can't have a feeling without first having a thought you have to be careful what you allow yourself to think about.

Don't keep all your eggs in one basket

As you make plans for your future you need to also make a plan B and C. Because if your plan doesn't work out like you planned you will still have a back up plan. If you put all eggs in one basket then all you will be left with if it fails is a bunch of rotten eggs. Keep all your options open so you will always have options if you need them. If you burn all the bridges along your way then you won't have a bridge to get to the other side if you need to.

Don't let them zap the joy out of you!

Have you ever known someone that you can see them coming and feel a strong sense that you are about to run into a brick wall and get knocked down? Literally before they utter a single word you know that what is fixing to spew out of their mouth and all over you is going to zap the joy right out of you. It's a feeling of dread that overwhelms you instantly. I often wander if they notice the chipper happy look on your face that changes as they speak to the look of exhausted defeat. It has made me take more notice of a person's face that I spend time with. If I see their smile fading I quickly change the conversation to something that makes the mood more uplifting. When I was young we would say to them don't be a Debby Downer. Unfortunately there are just some people who don't care or even notice how far down they take people. Would you notice?

What on earth is going on nowadays?

How could we have let things get so bad? It's not like we didn't see it when it first started happening. Why didn't we do something about it when it was still an isolated incident? Because it was ignored it was made acceptable which made it a common occurrence now. Now it is rampid in our neighborhoods. Now it is a battle we all must fight together if we have any chance at all of stopping it. We all must do our part because the World won't get better on it's own.

Through the eye's of a child

Children have eyes that see only what they want to. That is the way they see past all the chaotic things around them and are able to enjoy everything else. Unfortunately as an adult you have to keep your attention on everything to navigate through the real world. Luckily when I am spending time with my grandkids I am able to relax and forget about all the chaos going on and just enjoy every moment with them. Children have a way to bring out the child inside adults. You even forget about your aches and pains and are able to play right along with them. The exercise is good for you and the laughter you share with them is just as healthy for your mind body and soul. But after they go home you instantly feel your age again. It's like that movie "Cacoon", where the pods growing at that nursing home made the old people regain their youth. Children have a way to make sure everyone around them enjoys every moment too.
  When your life gets tough try looking at your life through a child's eye for an hour or two to have a break from it. Find a hobby that distracts you from the stress and let the kid in you come out to play so you can enjoy it.

Looks can be deceiving

Sometimes someone's physical appearance can be deceiving. Nowadays especially this is true. Tattoos, piercing and brightly coloured hair is common. It doesn't mean that they are dangerous or uncaring. There was a time when I didn't understand that to them it is simply art. After I got to know my friends daughter in law she taught me some people's thought process about expressing yourself in the art of it all. Although just like any other type of artwork the eye is in the beholder. But their heart and soul is the only thing that matters not whether their expression of art may seem out there. Get to know someone before you judge them. They might not like your style of dressing either.

What are you looking for?

Have you ever noticed that once you start looking for a certain kind of thing you suddenly find it everywhere. That's because you are looking for it. You never noticed before because you weren't looking for it. Just like if you look for trouble you will find it. If you look for someone or something to blame you will find it. If you look for the positive in a situation you will find it. If you are looking for a reason to smile each day you will find one. When you don't like what you see try looking at it differently to change your point of view.

How can you be sure?

There was a time when you could count on things happening the way they should. But nowadays you can't count on anything. In the good old days the older generations could help navigate you through a situation. But now what worked before doesn't work in today's world. Instead of offering advice on how to handle a situation they simply tell you that you can't count on anyone not anything but yourself. So talking to yourself might sound crazy but you alone have to figure things out. My advice to anyone is to think about it and make sure you can live with the desicions you make as you navigate through the ever changing fast paced world we live in. In the end the only thing that matters is that you can honestly say to yourself you made the decision thinking it was the right decision. You will make many mistakes throughout your life but if it is an honest mistake you made you won't deal with regret. 

It may take you a long time but don't give up

Things don't always happen when you want them to. But they won't happen at all if you give up. If you expect instant gratification you instantly set yourself up for failure if it doesn't happen in an instant. Dreams do come true but you have to put the time and effort into them that it will take to reach them. Just keep in mind the old saying that Rome wasn't built in a day. Stay focused on your dream so you can stay on track and one day you will see your dream come true. Every new invenvention was only possible because the person behind it found a way. It may be a long journey but you won't get there until you make the long journey. Giving up halfway there means you are never going to get there.

Young at heart with an old body

It is good to be young at heart as long as you keep in mind what your body can do. You may think how much fun it can be but be realistic about whether you can really physically do it. Heck when you are older you can pull a back muscle by bending over to pick something up off the floor. Exercise is good for you but running a marathon may not be possible. Don't wait too long to do the things on your bucket list because some of them you can only do with a young body.

Finally it is friday

Life can get so busy and complicated sometimes. It makes everyday of the week feel like a Monday. Thank goodness it finally feels like a Friday. And we all know that means it is time to relax and enjoy the weekend. Although my only plans for the weekend is to catch up on some much needed rest. After a long week your mind and body begins to say "Give me a break before I break down". To maintain good health after you get through tough times in your life it has to be followed by a break to refresh yourself. Everyone has a breaking point and you can't go past it. So make sure you take a break before you breakdown to the point where you can't get up. There is a limit to what and how much you can do.