They are only little for a short time

As a grandparent you already know how fast children grow up. You know that it is a very short time that they Will want to hang out with you. You can only tell parents that although times seem rough when they are little it is the best years of being a parent. Before you know it they grow up and friends are the only ones they want to hang out with. That is why grandparents can't wait to become granparents. So they can once again enjoy the innocence of a young child that only last a short time before they grow up. Don't miss it because before you know it they will be too busy to hang out with you. Mine are still little enough to think grandma and grandpa are their best friends. Although they are spoiled it is only because we had to wait a long time in between when our own children were little and they grew up to be parents.

It only takes a second

It only takes a second to get a flu shot. It only takes a second to be exposed to the flu virus to get the flu. One second makes a world of difference. Throughout life a brief encounter can change everything. Make every second you have be a moment you won't regret. Keep in mind in life that there are no do overs. What is done is done. You need to think through things for more than a second to make sure you make the right decision. A decision you make in a second could make you spend a lifetime regretting it. Instant gratification only last a second.

It may be funny now but...

As my one year old grandson hid behind the chair hiding what he was holding, he really thought he was invisible. Even though he was squeezing a squeaky dog toy that made him giggle. I knew he couldn't hurt himself with it so I jokingly said you bring that to grandma, which made him merely squish further against the chair as if he would not be seen. Then once again you could hear the squeaking noise followed by laughter. The sound of a child laughing is precious. I would again jokingly tell him to bring it to me. About the third time my grandaughter came over and said he isn't listening to you and he is hiding from you. She knew if the older ones didn't do what I said they would get in trouble. She didn't understand why he wasn't being made to bring it to me. I explained to her that he was a baby and I didn't really care about him hiding it was funny to me that he thought he was truly invisible and that the sound he was making couldn't be heard either. She looked at me all confused about it.  I sure hope she doesn't run and hide when I tell her to come here next time expecting me to think it's funny. It may be funny when a one year old does it but when you are older you really know you aren't going to be invisible.

If you let it in you can expect an avalanche

Our mind has an endless amount of thoughts stored away. Many of them you will never know that they are even there. Some are not a part of the endless stream that pops up in your mind trying to grab your attention. Be careful which ones you choose as they stream by that you allow to grab your attention. Because giving it your attention allows it in and it brings an avalanche of other thoughts with it. If it's a good thought that is all right but if it is a negative thought it can be dangerous. At a quick glance of a negative thought you got to quickly JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind before it can do any damage to you. Reliving a bad memory allows it to hurt you again. You can't choose nor can you stop the stream of thoughts but you can choose whether you let it grab your attention or not. Grab on to the good thoughts and FLUSH the bad ones at a quick glance.

There is a limit to how many you can juggle

In our busy lives we have to juggle many things at the same time. There is work, family, bills, household jobs, as well as many other obligations. Then there are unexpected things that pop up out of nowhere that you will need to do. Squeezing in things for yourself can be nearly impossible considering how busy you are juggling everything else. But time for yourself is just as important as any of the things you have to do. I am not saying take all the time you want for yourself but you need to devote a little time for yourself to be able to juggle everything else. Keep in mind that there will be times when someone close to you may ask for your help but you will have to say sorry I just don't have the time to help you. You can't be everything to everyone because you just can't. You only have so much time and energy and you can only juggle so many things at the same time. It's not only OK to say NO but it is necessary to say NO when you already are juggling all that you can handle.

The only way to do it right is to do whatever it takes to do it the right way

Taking shortcuts doesn't always turn out right. Sometimes the steps you missed can be necessities in the end. If you want to have everything you will need when you get there then you will have to do everything along the way to have them. You have to accept that it may be harder than you thought. But if it's worth doing then it's worth taking the time to do it right. Sometimes just when you finish one thing you realize that there is something else that has to be done that you hadn't planned on.

You can be your biggest cheerleader or your worst enemy

When you are faced with trying times you analyze what has just happened. Sometimes you realize that you may have contributed to it. At this point you can either constantly obsess over your role in it or acknowledge it, learn from it and make sure you don't repeat it. Like the church sign said that inspired me, "It's OK to sit on your pity-potty every now and again just be sure to FLUSH when you are done." Keeping it fresh on your mind allows it to keep hurting you making you your own worst enemy. You can choose to acknowledge it and learn from it then JUST FLUSH IT out of your mind. The cheerleader side of you will always be there to encourage you to keep moving.