Being entertained by nature

 During the quarantine I have been entertained by the animals and insects in my yard. They just move about freely with no knowledge that there is a pandemic going on. Today I watched and heard a woodpecker going from one yard to another. The squirrels that I call tree rats just scampered around grabbing acorns and burying them for food in the winter. There were two of them that played chase with each other for hours it seemed. The butterflies and hummingbirds stopped by on there way through the neighborhood to gather some pollen from my flowers. As I was entertained by nature I felt relaxed, no longer feeling cooped up in quarantine. Watching nature is yoga for the mind, body and soul. Then out of the blue I got bit by an ant. I was so busy watching the squirrels that I hadn't noticed that I had stepped in a line of ants blocking them. As I stepped back to get out of their way I noticed that they all seemed to be carrying stuff. One of the had what looked like a piece of leaf that was five times his size. He kept wobbling out of line as he struggled to carry it. But he just got back in line and continued on his journey. I followed the trail of ants to see where they were going. It lead to a crack in the cement where one by one they disappeared as they carried their treasures they had found. Who knows how deep their underground home was or how many ants were hidden deep in the ground. You would be surprised at just how many species of bugs and animals that are living in your own yard. When you are feeling cooped up during quarantine go outside and do some yoga for your mind to see how many you can find.

Looking forward to some Christmas Joy

 Although covid-19 has been weighing heavy on our minds, don't let it keep you from feeling the Christmas Joy. For the next few weeks we can all use some holly jolly in our daily lives. Don't forget the reason for the season is to be Merry, not go into debt buying gifts that no one needs. Debt will only make your circumstances harder when you get the bills for what you bought. As we have been in quarantine for many months we have had plenty of time to go through drawers and cabinets to get them organized. We decided to go through old pictures and put them in photo albums to give as gifts to our grown children. We hope it brings them as much joy looking through them as we felt. I do have to admit that along with the joy of reliving happy memories it made me realize I was old. Friends of ours made their family and friends bird houses. My friends daughter in law spent the last few months during quarantine to grow beautiful potted plants for gifts. She used unusual objects that she had in her garage as flowerpots to make them unique to the recipients taste. For instance, even though I am not supposed to know, she pulled the hair out of a fifteen inch troll doll and grew me a beautiful succulent plant inside it. I can't wait to see it in person. During quarantine you can be creative and come up with handmade gifts that were made out of love that they will be able to feel. 

You can't be happy with what you got until....

 You can't be happy with what you got until you are thankful for what you got. You don't have everything you could ever want but as long as you have everything you need you should be thankful. There are some people struggling during this pandemic to have their basic needs met. Look at your circumstances and be thankful that your glass is half full and drink it. You could die of thirst surrounded by water if you don't take a drink. Write a list of all the things that you are thankful for and be thankful for them. It's all in how you look at it. You either see your glass as half empty or half full. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Time to get out the family recipes

 The recent pandemic spikes means if you want to have a family favorite dish this Thanksgiving during quarantine, you will need to get the recipe. Since we can't get together we must each make our individual Thanksgiving Feast. Some of the dishes were made by others and brought for us all to enjoy every year. Now if we want it, we will need to find out how to make it ourselves. I keep reminding myself that by the time the holidays come around next year we will all be vacinated. And after having to miss spending time together for an entire year it will make each of us appreciate getting together on a whole new level. We have had time to think about what we enjoy most about those around us now that we have experienced a quarantine where we couldn't be around them. Sometimes you don't know what you would miss until it is gone. Even the little things about someone that annoys you, you will miss. What will a Thanksgiving Dinner for only a few people look like? It is still a Day to be Thankful for everything you do have even though you can't physically spend it with everyone like you want to this year. A quarantine will take away how you celebrate but quarantine or not Thanksgiving is still Thanksgiving and we all have plenty to be thankful for. 

There will be a lot more leftovers this Thanksgiving

 We had planned on eating Thanksgiving outside this year. But with the number of those having covid-19 on the rise, doesn't seem safe to gather outside either. I had already made my list for the Thanksgiving Feast, now I will have to shorten my list. I don't need everything on the list if no one is coming. It was a surprise to see just how many of the items on my list I still wanted. And even though I know we won't eat much of each item, it wouldn't be Thanksgiving without them. So I am going to still make our traditional Thanksgiving Feast knowing that there is going to be a lot of leftovers. Which means for days we will be eating leftovers. Now I just have to choose which desserts I want to have leftovers from for later. Instead of gaining five pounds like I normally do from Thanksgiving Dinner I worry that I will gain ten pounds from having too many leftovers. 

Is it a New Day or Ground Hog Day?

 Every day you wake up is a New Day. When you get out of bed start thinking about what you can do today. Don't get out of bed and relive everything that happened yesterday. All that does is make everyday a repeat of yesterday like in the movie Ground Hog Day. It's the same old thing just a different day. You can't go through life reliving yesterday and enjoy your TODAY'S, no more than you can safely drive a car only looking in the rearview mirror. It's impossible to let go of your past if you keep it fresh on your mind. The instant the thought of yesterday pops up, JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind before you have to relive it again and again. Spend today and every today enjoying what TODAY brings for you to enjoy. To enjoy your life you got to enjoy it while you are living it. 

If you keep putting it off until tomorrow it will never get done

 Nothing will get done if you keep putting it off until tomorrow. You have to do it TODAY eventually so do it TODAY so you can relax tomorrow. Yesterday is already gone, tomorrow may never come but TODAY is the day to do what you need to do so that it gets done. Otherwise you will spend all your TODAY'S wasting your time and energy making plans for how you are going to do it TOMORROW, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Just do it so you can JUST FLUSH IT OUT OF YOUR MIND. The sooner you get it done, the sooner you can relax because it's done. 

Whether it is true or not

 If you believe it is true then whether it is true or not, it is what you base your opinion on. Your thoughts are your reality. Whether they are based on real reality doesn't matter. Your thoughts are the reality you live. If you want to change any part of your life you will have to change how you think before your reality will change. It is all in how you look at it. If you see only the negatives then you can't have a positive thought about anything. You don't need to pay thousands of dollars to go hear a motivational speaker. Just get in the habit of looking as long and hard as you have to until you find something positive about every day. It's like one time my friend and I stopped by a little junk store. Before we got out of the car we could see that this was truly a junk store. And to beat all it was car part junk not knick knacks like we were looking for. For the fun of it we decided to make a game out of going inside and hunt to see if we could find anything we would want to buy. It wasn't necessarily fun looking through all the rusty dirty items but we took on the challenge. And we were both determined to find something, it was a game we were determined to win, just cause. Just as I was about to give up, I found something that still hangs on my wall nearly three decades later. It was a basket woven to be a crow. He said his dad had hung that up when he first opened the store up decades ago. So now it is over a half of a century old and I will treasure it forever. If I didn't look until I found it, I never would have found it. It is not the circumstances that you face that determines the outcome. It is how you react to whatever you face that determines the outcome. You will find what you seek. If you look for a way for you to have a positive outcome you will find a way for you to have a positive outcome, no matter what you are facing. If you look for trouble you will find it. 

because other people are doing it doesn't make it right

 If you know it isn't the right thing to do then don't do it. Just because other people are doing it doesn't change the fact that you know you shouldn't do it. So don't do it. Doing the right thing is the right thing to do, period. You choosing not to do it won't necessarily stop someone who is already doing it. But standing up for what is right can inspire others to not do it. If you ignore it or participate in wrong doings you are making it acceptable behavior. And if you accept it, it will become a common occurrence. By accepting it you better expect it to happen eventually to you or someone you love. You must stop any bad behavior from the start so it won't happen to anyone if you want to make sure it doesn't happen to you. Remember what goes around comes around. And you do reap what you sow. Unfortunately as a society everyone of us have to live with what each and every one of us sow into our communities. If you want to feel safe in your own community you have to do everything you can to make sure everyone in your community is safe. Common courtesy, common decency and common sense need to be what we all have in common. Plant seeds of humanity into your neighborhood so it can grow. The WORLD won't get better on it's OWN, WE ALL MUST DO OUR PART. 

 

Our lives are like a soap opera

 As the WORLD turns, is the name of a soap opera, but it is also the perfect name for the description of LIFE. You never know what you will have to face during your life's journey. No matter what happens, it is your life's journey. You will navigate through it as you face the good times and the bad times. No matter what gets thrown your way it's just life. And AS THE WORLD TURNS our life's journey continues. We only have one life to live and we just have to enjoy life while we are living it. It may not be the life you thought you would live but you have to be thankful that you are alive to live it. This pandemic has literally turned the entire World. And AS THE WORLD TURNS, this pandemic has thrown us all for a loop. But we will all get through this more united than ever as together we stood up against a common enemy. We saw each other as a partner not as enemies. Everything happens for a reason and sometimes a tornado in your life is the only way you were ever going to get there. 

Taking care of yourself is not selfish, it's being smart.

 You have to take care of yourself first in order to be able to help those around you when they need your help. Your not being selfish, your being smart. It may be hard to say no, but if you know you can't, then you have to say no because it is in everyone's best interest. You can throw someone a life preserver if they find themselves on thin ice. But you can't go on the thin ice to help them and put yourself in danger. It's important to be helpful and optimistic, but you have to be realistic about what you can and cannot do for someone. Taking on more than you can handle means not everything will get done. You can only do what you can do. Doing what is best for you is what is best in the long run for everyone. Especially now during a pandemic you have to be careful to keep yourself safe so that you keep everyone around you safe. Doing what is best for yourself is not being selfish it's necessary to ensure that you will be able to help others when they really need your help in the future.

It won't happen if you don't do something to make it happen

 You can't wait for something to fall into your lap. You have to go after what you want. You have to do the work it takes to get it. Nothing will change if you don't actually do something so that change is possible. Keep in mind that if you don't do something different than nothing will change. It will be the same old thing just a different day. Make your plans to make changes in baby steps so you don't set yourself up for failure by setting unrealistic goals. It seems less overwhelming when you tackle it one step at a time. As you reach each step give yourself credit for the work you put into it to get you there. It will motivate you to get started on the next step. But you won't get anything done if you don't get up and do something, so get up and get'r done.

A narrow view can keep you from seeing it

 If you have a narrow point of view, you might not see what is right in front of you. If you walk around with blinders on you could get blindsided. You need to stay focused but keep an open mind so you can see any opportunities that you can take or dangers  to avoid along your journey. Things in life don't always go as planned. You can plan the path you need to take but you won't know how hard your journey will be to get there. Don't limit your possibilities by not seeing what is possible for you. Keep all your options open by seeing what options are available for you. Keep your eyes wide open on your life's journey to enjoy all that life has to offer you to enjoy. Knowing what to do is only possible if you know what you need to do. What worked for someone else may not work for you. What worked before may not work anymore. Don't limit yourself on what you can do by limiting your point of view. You can't choose what is truly best for you if you don't know what all your choices are.