What makes someone a hero?

 We know that rescuing someone from a burning car obviously makes them a hero. We know that anyone who has invented a cure for an illness is a hero. There is a whole list of obvious heros we could name.

  This pandemic has been adding to the list of heroes like grocery workers, delivery truck drivers, Mail workers, car repair shops the list could go on and on. Working in public places so that we all can keep moving, knowing you are possibly putting your health at risk from covid-19 makes so many people HEROES. 

  Although many people can work from home they are thankful that those who work in the public are there so they can get things they need. There are a lot of everyday HEROES out there that we all are thankful for, or at least we should be.

  I know throughout my life I have had obvious heroes like my family but there were many people who I considered to be important HEROES to me. It may have only been a brief encounter that a simple statement they made had a huge positive impact on who I am today. 

  Your simple kind words of encouragement can have a huge impact and make a positive difference in that person's life. They may not remember your name but they will never forget your kind words or actions. 

  Spreading kindness as you go is how you spread kindness that will grow in your community. Your words matter more than perhaps you know. 

  You reap what you sow and spreading kindness brings a harvest that we all can benefit from. The next time you go out to take care of your necessities, be sure and say thank you to those taking a chance during a pandemic to be there so you can.

   Like they say one thing leads to another so pass on a random act of kindness that will lead to another and another. Keep it going so it can keep going. Be kind to everyone you meet because you have no idea what they may be facing. 

  

Missed opportunities are....

 Missed opportunities are never lost they are taken by someone else. Opportunities don't come often which is why missing one brings such disappointment. It doesn't matter why you missed it, even if it was through no fault of your own. 

  Today I had plans at 1:00 pm that I had been looking forward to for days. I felt for sure it would be an opportunity to learn important stuff that would be very helpful to me. Unfortunately at 12:30 something came up that was a necessity that just couldn't wait. 

  Two hours later when I got back home I had to deal with the feelings of disappointment. Although it was disappointing, I was thankful for getting something important done. Which helped me take the nagging feeling of what I missed and JUST FLUSH IT out of my mind. 

  I believe everything happens for a reason and therefore I have to think that it wasn't the opportunity that was meant for me. Even our disappointments and our failures are also a part of what it takes to get the right opportunities. 

  Things don't always go according to what you have planned. But a change in your plans is sometimes necessary to achieve what you want. You have to be flexible to get what you want. 

  

You can't look forward to....

 You can't look forward to anything if you keep looking back in the past. You can't move past it until you leave it in the past. Learn what you need to from it then JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind so you can move forward. 

  To see clearly where you need to go, you have to clear your mind so you have ROOM to figure it out. Don't CLOG yourself up with thoughts of what has happened in the past.

  You already know what happened you don't have to keep RELIVING IT. JUST FLUSH IT so you can move on. You can't stop the thoughts from popping up trying to GRAB YOUR ATTENTION but you can JUST FLUSH IT at a quick glance so you don't have to relive it. 

  If you want to be able to look forward to what the future holds for you, don't let the past hold you back. JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind so you can get moving. 

  

Understanding isn't the same as accepting

 Many things will happen on your life's journey that you can't UNDERSTAND why or even how they could have happened. You just have to ACCEPT that there are some things that there just is no answer for, not even on Google.

  This last year we all have struggled in some way as we try to navigate through the many obstacles the pandemic has created. Since there is no way to know let alone UNDERSTAND, all we can do is ACCEPT that we have to learn as we go. 

  Quarantine gives us a lot of time to think and we can't clog up our minds with a list of all the negative situations this pandemic has caused. It's not healthy physically or mentally. 

  You can't keep it fresh on your mind, you have to ACCEPT it then JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind. With a clear mind you can see clearly how to ADJUST to get through it.

  Just UNDERSTANDING that there will be things you experience on your life's journey that you won't UNDERSTAND, will help you ACCEPT them when they do.  

  Things just happen in LIFE, that's just LIFE. To ENJOY life you got to ENJOY it while you are LIVING it.

You can't have a FEELING without a THOUGHT

   Your thoughts make up the reality that you live. Whether what you believe is true or not, if you believe it is true then to you it is true. Every decision you make will be decided by the truth as you see it. 

  Have you ever had the facts completely wrong and then realized that you made a bad decision? We all know that there is consequences for every decision we make.  Unfortunately your actions can hurt others. 

  Before you react STOP and think about what your reaction would bring. Give each situation you face a chance to have a positive outcome for everyone involved. Once you react you can't take it back.

  How you look at things will determine what you see. You know like whether you see the glass half empty or half full. Ten people could see the exact same thing yet they all see something different. 

  Your point of view is based on what you see. If you look at it from different points of view then you may change your point of view. If you don't then your narrow view will keep you from seeing what is right in front of you. 

  Like Elvis Presley said in one of his songs: You got to STOP LOOK AND LISTEN that's my philosophy. 

  

  

Taking a sick day

 When you don't feel good get rested so you can get better. 

What is that nagging feeling that just won't go away?

 Have you ever had a nagging feeling that something just ain't right? You could have done all the research of what you needed to  do, yet still have a nagging feeling that something just wasn't right. 

  As you proceed to to do everything just like the plan was to get you where you want to be, the nagging feeling that something just ain't right continues. You go over your plans to make sure that the research you did was accurate and proceed.

  You keep ignoring the warning signal making you feel like something just ain't right. Then suddenly after all your hard work something happens that makes you clearly see that things weren't meant to turn out like you planned.

  You can't look at it as darn I just wasted a lot of time and energy for nothing. Hopefully it didn't cost you to much. What you learned on that journey was what it took to SEE where you needed to go. Otherwise you might have never seen it. 

  I believe that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes the journey to get you where you need to be will take you first going on a scenic route to get there. 

Time is flying by even though you are stuck

It's hard to believe that we have been living in quarantine for nearly a year now. Even though we may have been stuck idly in our homes, time has been flying by.

  We have had to spend every holiday in 2020 in quarantine. Here we are at the start of 2021 still in quarantine. Although the 2021 start of the holidays is just around the corner, there is no certainty that we can safely gather to celebrate. 

  The experiences of 2020 will make us better prepared to get creative to enjoy the holidays. When we are finally able to gather we will appreciate it so much more. There are many things we took for granted that we could no longer do that we will appreciate now.

  I had always heard that you won't miss it until it is gone and boy is that true. Even things that annoyed you. Our experiences this last year have forever changed us all. It's been tough but we have learned a lot while we have had a year in quarantine giving us plenty of time to think about everything. 

  One thing is for sure this pandemic has made us all realize our own mortality. We have learned that you have to enjoy life while you are living it pandemic or not. 

  

If you can't be honest with yourself nothing will change

 You won't know what will work best for you if you aren't honest with yourself. Getting advice from others can be helpful to get you to look at things from different points of view. But you know you best so your decision should be made by you.

  You can't just do what other people think you should do. If you change to PLEASE others before long you won't know who you are. Other people may think that they know you but no one knows everything about you except you. 

  Talking to yourself may sound crazy but you are legally insane if you don't. To determine if someone is legally insane or not it is based on whether they can make sound decisions on their own not having to be told what to do. 

  You must be totally honest with yourself about everything and everyone in your life in order to know what you should do. You alone should decide because you alone will have to live with the consequences for everything you do. 

  Keep in mind that if you are honest with yourself there might be things that you will have to give up because it is what is best for you. There may even be people that you will have to walk away from no matter how painful it is. 

  Everyone struggles throughout their life so don't think you are any different than anyone else. But to be comfortable in your own skin you have to be comfortable with everything you do in the skin you are in. As long as you did the best that you could, it doesn't matter what any one else thinks.

  You can either be your biggest cheerleader or your worst enemy. If you did what you thought was the right thing to do then give yourself credit for what you did even if you fail. Learn from it and try again.

  Remember talking to yourself may sound crazy but you are legally crazy if you don't. Although you might want to keep the conversation with yourself silent in your head because if others hear you they may think you are crazy. 

  

  

You can't keep it from popping up but..

 Our minds have an endless stream of thoughts that pop up trying to grab our attention. There is no way to prevent a thought from popping up over and over again.  But you can JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind at a quick glance so it can't keep hurting you over and over again. 

  When a negative thought pops up you don't have to open yourself up to the avalanche of thoughts that would pour in if you JUST FLUSH IT OUT OF YOUR MIND. It's like seeing a cockroach come out of your grocery bag. If you don't squish it immediately your house will be totally infested with roaches. 

  You may have had no choice to live through the negative situation the first time, but you can choose to not relive it over and over again in your mind. So at a quick glance JUST FLUSH IT OUT OF YOUR MIND So it can't hurt you over and over again.

  The rollercoaster of life is full of ups and downs as well as twists and turns. You will have good days and bad days. If you want to enjoy life you have to enjoy it while you are living it. Which means to have a good day there are times when you have to FLUSH AWAY A BAD DAY so you can enjoy life while you are living it. 

  The past is already gone, tomorrow may never come but TODAY is yours to enjoy.

  

It's not what you start with .....

It isn't what you start with that determines the outcome. It is whether you get up and get started that will determine the outcome. Just like it isn't the circumstances that you must face but how you react to them that determines the outcome. 

  If you give up without ever trying you can't say you tried. If you want it you will have to do whatever it takes to get it. Keep in mind that to grow there are growing pains. 

 Sometimes it may take a tornado in your personal life to get you where you need to be. You have to grow wherever you are planted throughout your life. You just have to accept that there are many things that happen in life that there are just no answers for, not even on Google. 

  Every day you should make a list of the things that you are thankful for to make you realize just how lucky you are. You may not have everything that you want but as long as you have everything you need you should be thankful. 

  Your thoughts are the reality you live. So just like Peter Pan, you need to think of happy thoughts. What you look for is what you will find. If you look for trouble, you will find it. If you look for a way to have a positive outcome then the outcome will be positive. Seek and you will find. 

 

  

  

  

Looking forward to the future is not possible if you live in the past

 As we all are looking forward to the end of the pandemic, we know that things will never be the same. What worked in the past won't work quite the same because the pandemic has forever changed things. 

  We will have to adjust how we do things because things are forever changed. Like the plaque on my wall says, SO THIS ISN'T HOME SWEET HOME, ADJUST. 

  It's going to take a lot of patience, time and a whole lot of creativity to make the "new normal" feel normal. You can't look forward nor move towards the future if you keep waiting for things to go back to like they were in the past. 

  Since we are still living in a pandemic, we have to hang on while we bend like a pretzel to get through it. But we will get through it. Just make sure you don't do anything to get through it that you will regret. Because pandemic or not there are consequences for every thing you do. 

  Doing the right thing is not always easy but it's the only way that things for you will turn out alright at the end of the pandemic. Keep in mind that times are tough on everyone so be kind to everyone you meet. 

  I have had a lot of time during this pandemic to look at the plaques on my walls that have hung for decades. They have taken on a profound meaning during the pandemic. 

  Like one of them says, I ASKED GOD FOR ALL THINGS THAT I MIGHT ENJOY LIFE, HE GAVE ME LIFE THAT I MIGHT ENJOY ALL THINGS.