Sometimes the sun shines in the dead of winter

 In our personal life we go through seasons just like mother nature has her seasons. Even in the dead of winter there are sunny days. On a rainy day it is not all gloomy there are rainbows of color to enjoy.

  You know when it is cold outside you need to put on a jacket. When you go through a rough season in your personal life you must stay true to your core values to stay protected to weather the storm. 

  When there is a sunny day in the winter you get to go outside to get some much needed fresh air. When you have a season of harvest in your personal life you get to enjoy the rewards of your hard work. You really do reap what you sow.

  When it's thundering and lightning outside you know you have to stay indoors to be safe. When you are faced with a negative situation in your personal life, you know you need to STOP and think before you react if you want to have a positive outcome. 

   Life is just as unpredictable as the weather. But one thing is for sure, yesterday is already gone, tomorrow may never come but TODAY is ours to enjoy. We may not like getting wet in the rain but we know we need the rain. Just like in life we know a life worth living takes hard work. 

  

You don't have to change to be a better you

 There has been a lot of time during this year long quarantine to reflect on our personal  life. You may have discovered a few things about yourself both good and bad. Having to make the most out of what you got let you also discover many things that you are thankful for. 

  There may have been changes that you have had to make, as well as many hurdles you have had to climb. But make sure that whatever you do to get through it is something you can be proud of. 

  You may have discovered some things you need to change to be the best that you can be. But that doesn't mean you have to change who you are. 

  Being comfortable in the skin you are in takes being comfortable with what you do in the skin you are in. Be kind to everyone you meet because you have no idea what they may be facing. Just do unto others what you would want them to do to you. 

  

Don't let your guard down but don't build a wall without a door

 To protect ourselves we have to put up walls and barriers. We have to even put on disguises at times so that we are less vulnerable. And during this pandemic we need to wear face masks and keep a social distance on top of that.

  Although you can't let your guard down, don't build Walls all around yourself without building a door. Isolation is not healthy physically or mentally for anyone. You can be safe without fear taking away the freedom to live. 

  Be aware of the dangers and do what you need to do to be safe. To enjoy life, pandemic or not, you have to enjoy life while you are living it. The things we learn from the tough times in life are the things that steers us in the right direction to be able to experience and enjoy the good times. 

  The ROLLER COASTER OF LIFE is full of ups and downs as well as twists and turns, that is just LIFE. Just put on your seatbelt and enjoy the ride. To enjoy life you just got to enjoy it while you are living it. 

  

  

Looking forward to the future is only possible if....

 Looking forward to the future is only possible if you stop looking at your past. Just like you can not safely drive your car forward only looking in your rearview mirror!

  You can't move past something if you don't put it behind you as you move on. Learn from it so that it never happens again, then JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind. Reliving it over and over again in your mind only allows it to hurt you over and over again.

  There will be many times during your life's journey that life will throw boulders in your path. Don't just stand there complaining about why it is there, just go around it and keep moving. If you find yourself in a deadend on your journey then just turn around. 

  The path you must take to get where you want to be may be bumpy at times. But just because a different route may be smoother that doesn't mean it will lead you to where you want to be. 

  Sometimes the path that looks like the most traveled isn't the way to go. It's worn simply because it led to a deadend and everyone had to turn around and choose a different path. 

  Sometimes in life in order to have a good day, you will have to learn how to flush away a bad day. Take all the painful experiences from your past and JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind so you can enjoy life while you are living it. 

  

During quarantine the "little things" get noticed

 We have all been in quarantine for nearly a year now. There was plenty of time to get projects at home done that you had put off doing because you never had the time or even the energy to do them. 

  While you are getting all the big jobs done that is when you notice all the little things that you realize you need to do. You also find a lot of things that you had forgotten you had and half of them you don't even need.

  As you declutter your house by discarding what you don't want and organizing what you want to keep, you will feel better. The same is true if you clear the clutter of negative thoughts out of your mind you will feel better. 

  I still have a few little things that I need to do but since quarantine isn't going to end for a while I should have plenty of time to get them done. One good thing that came out of the quarantine is a lot of things got done around the house. It sure looks good and it feels good inside as you pat yourself on the back for all the things you got done. 

  JUST FLUSH IT to Spring clean your mind just like you spring clean your house by clearing out all the clutter.

   

  

Your hidden talents are waiting for you to discover

 We each have talents that we have not discovered yet. That is why it is important to encourage people, especially children, to try everything you can. Unless you try to draw you will never know if you are good at drawing. If you don't ever sing you won't know if you are a good singer.

  Your hidden talents will stay hidden unless you try many things to discover what they are. Keep in mind you don't have to be the best there ever was at something to be talented at it. If you always wanted to do something you should try it, you just might be good at it. If not you can at least mark that off your bucket list of things you want to do.

  I wrote down some of the things my grandkids were good at as we experienced things throughout the years. One day when they get older I will remind them of their talents that they may have forgotten that they even had. Who knows they might be able to base their career choices on the forgotten talents that they each have.

   To discover your hidden talents remember you will have to try as many new adventures you can to discover them. You may try something that you didn't like doing so you will know you don't want to do that again. Or you may try something and discover how much you like doing it and make it a career or at at least plan on doing it again.

  

True friendship is hard to find

 Friendships when you are young are merely based on whether you have fun when you are with them. Finding a friend was easy then. As you become a middle aged adult you not only look for someone you have fun with but who also is honest. The crowd you surround yourself with becomes smaller.

 By the time you start nearing your fifties you begin to realize that a true friendship is not based on fun as much as it is their honesty, loyalty, compassion for others as well as their integrity. By this point you aren't out looking for new friendships, you are thankful for the few true friendships you have already made. 

 

A big idea from a little bit of "small talk"

 In the fast paced world we live in there never seems to be any time for "small talk" to take place. Back in the good old slow moving times there was always time to sit around and talk to people. Having "small talk" brings up all kinds of topics that just flow out as you pass the time. You learn a lot of things that you will remember later in life that will be helpful to you. As you talk about circumstances that you are struggling with, you can figure out a solution to your problem without them saying a word. The human connection helps you stay connected to your human side. With all the technology overtime we feel connected but it is with people who only exist in cyberspace disguised as anything they want to be. Try to remember that it is okay to visit cyberspace friends but a human hug can't be replaced by a cyberspace poke. 

Meditation can help you maintain your overall good health

Meditation helps you both physically and mentally stay healthier. Not only does it help you at the time you are doing it, but it benefits you throughout your day. Meditation may sound complex but remember there is no right way or wrong way to meditate. Meditation is just focusing your attention on something to block out the never ending stream of thoughts in your mind. Some people go to "their happy place" in there mind. Pick a place, any place, that you want to choose and focus on every little detail about your place. Focus untill you can feel as you are physically there. If you focus long enough you will be able to have a sense of the smells even. Other people focus purely on their breathing. Whatever you find works for you that is what your way of meditating is. What works for someone else may not work for you. Whatever it takes to distract all the thoughts that are streaming through your mind is what you will have to do so that PEACE of MIND has ROOM to get in. While you are meditating it is natural to lose focus from time to time. But as soon as you do, you have to start all over again focusing on the details to get back to your "happy place" again. Scientist may debate about whether meditation truly can help with things such as cancers. But they will all tell you that meditation helps with both your physical and mental well being. Maybe your meditation is listening to a song that makes it impossible to do anything but feel the tune throughout your mind body and soul. Before you know it your feet will start tapping. Or your legs and your pelvis start moving like Elvis's. A moment to get away from the never ending stream of thoughts is another moment of peace of mind. If you want to have PEACE OF MIND you have to make ROOM FOR IT to get in. Peace of mind is just a FLUSH away all you got to do is JUST FLUSH IT. 

You don't have to walk a straight line to succeed but you can't cross the lines you set for yourself

 In order to succeed in life you don't have to do everything successfully. But you do have to draw lines that you don't cross if you want to be successful. Set limits and boundaries for yourself on a personal level, on a professional level and on a moral level that you let guide you through life. Keep in mind that it's true that you reap what you sow in life. If you want to have good karma in life, you have to do what is right to others to have good karma on your side. Because as we all know karma will be with you on your life's journey and it will determine what kind of journey it will be. Doing the right thing may make things harder to do but as long as you do the right thing everything will work out alright for you. At the end of the day as long as you did the best that you could do then you can enjoy the peace of mind that it will bring you. You can't feel comfortable in the skin you are in unless you are comfortable with what you do in the skin you are in. Be kind to everyone one you meet because you have no idea what they may be facing. 

Learning from your mistakes is only...

 You can't learn from your mistakes if you don't admit that you made a mistake. But a mistake only happens once because you should learn from it what not to do the next time. Every experience you have in life, both the good and the bad, help you grow to be the best you can be. Without a doubt we each are dealt a different hand in life. And for some life is harder. But when life gives you nothing but lemons you can learn how to make lemonade. How you react to every experience you have is up to you. It isn't the circumstances you face that determines the outcome. It is how you react to it that will determine the outcome. So before you react STOP and think about what you can do to have the best possible outcome for yourself. Remember that once you react you can't take it back, you will have to live with the consequences for your actions. Obliviously your first reaction to a negative situation will be negative. If you don't STOP before you react the outcome can only be negative. Even though a negative situation can still affect you negatively, your reaction can either make things worse or make things the best they can be for you under the circumstances. How you look at things determines what you see. It could be right in front of you but you won't see it if you don't look for it. To have a positive outcome sometimes may be as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack. But if you want a positive outcome you will have to grab a magnifier and look until you find that needle. Looking for a bright side to every negative situation is the only way to see that there is light at the end of the tunnel to help you get through the negative situation that you are in. You may not have been able to prevent the situation you are in but you can react to it in a way that can possibly prevent a negative outcome for you. It's your choice how you react but choose wisely because you have to live with the consequences for every choice you make. 

Sometimes in life you got to bend and twist like a pretzel

 The roller coaster of life is full of ups and downs as well as twists and turns. The pandemic has added a few more moves to our lives that we have to maneuver through. Sometimes we will have to bend and twist like a pretzel to get through the circumstances and situations we must face due to the pandemic. It definitely brings out our creative side as we have had to take whatever we got or can even get, and make it work. The saying on a plaque on my wall that has hung up for decades takes on a whole new meaning during this pandemic. It says "So this isn't HOME SWEET HOME, ADJUST." 

Your opinion can hold you back from seeing things

 Your opinion is the only opinion that matters. But your opinion can keep you from seeing the "big picture" because it narrows your point of view. You can form an opinion without knowing all the facts. Perhaps if you would look at things differently you would change your opinion. Unfortunately once you form an opinion on something you close your mind preventing you from seeing it differently. You may not like apples but still like warm apple pie. But you will never know unless you try a piece of apple pie. You may hate being out in the cold weather but still love skiing. But you will never know unless you try skiing. Your opinion about it may change but only if you are open minded. Getting all the facts about something may change your opinion but will you choose to get the facts? I had an opinion about someone whom I had worked with decades ago. Recently I learned about their circumstances in Life that totally changed my opinion about them. I understood now but I wish I would have known back then. Some people keep their life situations private because they don't want anyone to know. Unfortunately not knowing can make someone form an opinion about you without them really knowing you at all. I am not saying anyone should tell everyone everything about themselves. I am just pointing out that without knowing all the facts, you should stop and consider what is your opinion based on? If you knew all the facts would you have a different opinion? It can either change your opinion or confirm that your opinion was right. But it is better to get the facts so you can make an informed decision than to regret the decisions that you made because your opinion was wrong. How many times throughout your life have you said "If I would have known that I sure would have done things differently"? Don't decide without knowing what the facts are so you can make the right decision. If you thought you were picking six Powerball  lottery numbers assuming that the numbers range from 1-30, you would be cutting your chances to win. Because the fact is the range is 1-69 and you would never have picked any number from 31-69 because you never bothered to get the facts before you picked your six numbers. Happy New Years Day everyone.