Standing Up

AI generated image from Pixabay

It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.  — J.K. Rowling

Who are the enemies in this quote? What does it mean to stand up to them and what does that do for us or take away from us? It is a simple quote, but there are multiple points to consider. Also why does she say it takes the same amount of bravery to stand up to our friends? Do we have more to lose?

When we are standing up for the truth and for what is right, we can face ridicule, censorship, and even be fired from our jobs.

An example of this was during covid when people were being forced to take the not-a-vax jab or lose their jobs. Employers often fired those employees who refused and hired more compliant people. Those who didn't comply were called names, censored online, restricted, shunned and the pro-vaxxers even wanted to round them up and put them in camps. They wanted to do this to fellow human beings. 

It wasn't just employers vs. employees. It was schools vs. students, sometimes to the point of vaccinating students without parental permission. It was doctor vs. patient, and the unvaxxed were often denied critical treatment. It was also friends and family who badgered and distanced themselves from those who stood their ground. 

It was a horrible time in our country's history, and one I have no wish to repeat.Those of us who resisted the pressure are confident in our decision. 

No matter what you are standing up for or whom you are standing up to, it is never easy and sometimes you end up being a black sheep. So be it.

Until next time, stay safe and stay sane.

Liberty

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. ― John Milton

God Bless America!

Which are you?

One moment of patience may ward off great disaster. 

One moment of impatience may ruin a whole life. 

- Chinese Proverb

If the spider is patient, he gets his dinner. If not, he may move too quickly and scare away his intended meal. Then he goes hungry.

Now this is not a life-altering disaster, he simply rebuilds his web and begins the wait process. In the meantime, maybe he has learned something.

What is our take away from this? Patience is the key to accomplishment and impatience can lead to failure to meet your goals.

How can we apply this to our daily lives? Work, school, relationships, driving, and even dinner.

Patience is an virtue, and often it is kindness in disguise. According to our quote, patience is the difference between success and failure. I agree that this may often be the case.

However, with regard to some of the other daily instances of patience, it is simply showing kindness. For example, the elderly lady maneuvering the parking lot. We may be behind her, quietly (to ourselves) admonishing her for being slow, while she is being careful and doing the best she can. To allow her to move at her own pace without harsh reaction is kindness.

Also true with relationships. Patience with each other instead of grumbling about their "fill in the blank" is showing kindness as well.       

Most instances of patience is not life altering, it is simply us waiting our turn. What is your take on this?

Getting Started

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and starting on the first one. - Mark Twain

Sounds simple, right? It is and it isn't. We, and I speak from experience, look around at our house, our list of projects and suddenly feel overwhelmed. We may even utter the words "if only..." At this point it may seem easier to battle space aliens than deal with our tasks at hand.

It is easy to let things get out of hand and pile up to the point that we have no idea how it happened or where to begin. It can start by putting off one thing, saying "I'll do that tomorrow". We continue to do this in favor of what we'd rather be doing. After a while we have a backlog of undone tasks. 

These are often things that would have taken only a few minutes had they been done in a timely manner. Now we are faced with tackling a laundry list of tasks, one of which may actually include doing laundry.

As Mr. Twain states, break down your big task into little tasks. We will use a desk as example, and this is particularly apt with more people working from home these days.

First start by putting away everything that doesn't belong there. My desk is a catch-all for everything I don't want to deal with at the moment, and you know how quickly that can get out of hand. 

Next sort out the papers into file, recycle, shred piles. Put the recycles and shreds into their appropriate bins. Now you're left with filing, and that's everyone's favorite thing to do, right? No peeking at my desk now. To make filing easier, sort papers into related piles, e.g. bills, receipts, medical papers, work-related, and miscellaneous (which translates to "I still don't know where that goes".) Hopefully you already have a filing system –⁠ albeit neglected...or we wouldn't be here would we?

Most of us know these things, and once we have gone through the onerous process, we vow that we will never let it get that way again. Let me know how that works for you.

The Sky Aglow

Never waste any amount of time doing anything important when there is a sunset outside that you should be sitting under! –C. JoyBell C.

Original Photo of Roses to Rainbows: St. Pete, FL 2018

It would be a shame to let such beauty go to waste, and as you can see, we did not. This was our view over the Gulf of Mexico a few years ago. My advice, when you see a beautiful sunset, is to drop what you're doing and go enjoy it.

Are You Really Living?

If you are not living this moment, 

you are not really living. - Eckhart Tolle

I'm not sure that this even needs an explanation, so I'll pose a few questions instead. 

How long has it been since you took a quiet walk in the woods? 

When was the last time you sat outside in the sun's warmth eating an ice cream cone? 

What did you talk about over dinner last night?

These are examples of moments to be lived...fully and completely, and these are times we are more likely to "live in the moment". However, each day is made up of moments that too often pass by without a thought or glance. 

Think about this next time you see the sunset or watch the birds at your feeder or visit with a friend. Cherish the moments. Live life!

On the Whole

The years teach much which the days never knew. 
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We live our lives day by day, putting one foot in front of the other and taking each day in stride. Yesterday was not so good. Today is better. What will tomorrow bring? Each year however, is the sum total of all the days, and it brings a multitude of experiences and lessons. As each year passes, we have the opportunity to learn far more from the whole than from any one part.

Please share your thoughts.

Oblivious

People aren't ignoring you. They are busy with their lives. And the way to stop feeling ignored is to get busy with yours. - Robert Brault

Do you feel ignored or unnoticed, like perhaps you're made of cardboard?

Life is busy and many of us go about our day in our own little world of work, family and necessary errands, stopping only when the day is done, the kids are asleep and garbage has been pushed to the curb. Rise and repeat the cycle until everything blurs.  

Sometimes we are oblivious to those around us who may be longing for a bit of human interaction, or just to make a connection and hear "hello, how are you"?

The author suggests to those folks feeling left out or ignored to just get busy with your own life, and you will no longer feel ignored. That is true in part, but then we risk becoming like everyone else who is too busy to pay attention to others.

How about the next time you think "I'm too busy" or "I don't have time right now,"  just change directions and say "Hey, do you have plans tonight?" or "Let's grab a bite and catch up."

I've had this sitting in my draft folder for maybe a couple years or so. I pulled it out and tweaked it a bit. I think it is still just as relevant today. Maybe more so! 

What are your thoughts?

The Wrath of Michael

How dear the woods are! You beautiful trees! I love every one of you as a friend. -Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea, 1909

The handiwork of Tropical Storm Michael as he made his way north, pausing long enough on his journey to topple some trees and take down power lines.

This is the second time this year we have lost an old, beloved Pecan tree. Farewell my friend, you were well loved.

There is something wrong with this picture. That is what's left of the power to the house (thankfully not the one we're currently living in). The rest is a hanging somewhere in another tree.

When Hurricane Florence was heading toward the coast, we were all making preparations. Even those of us who live well inland were cautioned that we could get severe weather. After all the predictions, thankfully she steered away from us, and all we got were a few sticks in the yard and a couple inches of rain.

Then along came Michael who kind of sprang up out of nowhere and quickly became a record-breaking monster, leaving very little time to prepare or leave. What happened here cannot remotely compare to the devastation along the Florida Panhandle, but Michael did leave us with downed trees, widespread power outages and flooding.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all those suffering in Florida and all along the path of the storm.




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It's Pumpkin Season

Oh how we love pumpkin season. You did know this gourd-ish squash has it's own season, right? Winter, Spring, Summer, Pumpkin...We anxiously anticipate it every year.  - Trader Joe's Fearless Flyer

I must confess, I am not the biggest fan of pumpkin. My favorite has to be the pumpkin roll, but I think that has more to do with the yummy cream cheese filling than anything pumpkin related.

It seems, though, that pumpkin-fever is here to stay for a while and everyone one is jumping on the pumpkin train. I wrote a post last year for the October writing challenge I was participating in called "Everything Is Coming Up Pumpkins". There you can read all about pumpkin products and trivia.

Now that fall is well underway, I'm hope I can find one of those delicious pumpkin rolls for an upcoming event next weekend. 😋 

Happy Pumpkin-ing y'all!


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Flag Day 2018

Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
 Francis Scott Key, The Star-Spangled Banner

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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Just Say When!

I am Summer, come to lure you away from your computer... come dance on my fresh grass, dig your toes into my beaches. - Oriana Green

While it isn't technically summer for another few weeks, the weather in our neck of the woods deems it to be summer, so we are gearing up. Here are our new beach chairs. 😎

Two years ago I got new beach towels and dolphin towel clips, and last year some friends gave us a new umbrella. As you can see this is a process of selection and collection. Now I'm ready! The only question is when???

Let me know in the comments if you are a beach gal (or guy) like me, and where you like to beach best.



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The Season of Sunlight

When the sunlight hit the trees, all the beauty and wonder come together. Soul unfolds its petals. Flowering and fruiting of plants starts. The birds song light up the spinal column and harmonize the hippocampal functioning. ― Amit Ray

I think that means we all come alive in the sunlight. We feel the sun on our faces, hear the birds sing and watch with wonder as life starts all over again. These memories will carry us through when we feel the absence of the sun's warmth.

In case you were wondering, the hippocampus is the part of the brain responsible for processing of long term memory and emotional responses.  We should all be grateful to our hippocampus for preserving our memories.

What are some of your favorite sun-related memories?

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President's Day

The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away.– Ronald Reagan

Image source: Wikipedia

Today is President's Day, so I thought it was appropriate to pick a presidential quote, and I read through tons of quotes by decades of American leaders. I came across a top ten list, and Ronald Reagan came in at number 2. It was, however, not the one featured above. After each quote, was a little blurb about the president and that's where I found this gem. 

I will leave you to ponder his statement for yourselves. Meanwhile, the quote that earned him the number 2 spot in this list was "Mister Gorbachev, tear down this wall."




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Just Be

Firelight will not let you read fine stories but it's warm 

and you won't see the dust on the floor. –Irish Proverb

Sitting before the warmth of a fire is more of a time for peaceful reflection than the perusal of literature. Don't think about work or to-do lists, take the time to just be. That is something none of us do frequently enough these days. And if you should fall asleep, may your dreams be pleasant until you wake as the flickering flames turn to glowing embers.


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Tropical Dreams

This is Day 17 of the 2018 edition of the 20 Days of Chill writing challenge hosted by P. J. at A ‘lil HooHaa. Please join us this month on our writing journey. Today's prompt is Tropical Dreams.

Nothing is rigid. Things change. 
You can change your mind. 
You can change your thinking.

― Liane Moriarty

I'm keeping it simple today. My tropical dream is a place where life is calm, the breeze is warm, the drinks are cold, and you can always change your mind.


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The Wisdom of the Doughnut

Did you know that you can find wisdom in the oddest of places? Well you can, and this has been around for over 100 years. It was written back in 1904 as this poem which first appeared in a New York newspaper.

Twixt optimist and pessimist

The difference is droll;

The optimist the doughnut sees -

The pessimist the hole

In 1929 a restaurant in Charleston, West Virginia rewrote it in a more contemporary style with a target audience of coffee drinkers...who often ate doughnuts (also called sinkers).

As you ramble through Life, Brother,

Whatever be your goal.

Keep your eye upon the doughnut,

And not upon the hole

This though-provoking poem is often known as the optimist's creed. It is a wonderful life motto which even inspired two presidential candidates who worked it into their campaign speeches. It was also adopted by the Mayflower Doughnut shop chain and appeared on their doughnut boxes. It had a picture depicting two court jesters, one staring contentedly at a fat doughnut with a small hole, and the other looking dejectedly at a skinny doughnut with a large hole.

This was presented during the "time for children" segment at church one Sunday like this:

As you go through life make this your goal.

Keep your eye on the doughnut and not the hole.

It was explained that the doughnut represents the things we have (our blessings), and the hole is what we don't have. The verse instructs us to focus on what we have and not what we don't have or wish we had. 

During this holiday season and throughout the year, let's be thankful for the doughnut and not worry about the hole.

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Each Moment Counts

These words from Corita Kent reminds us that life is more than just the big events, but the moments that lead us there. Each one is necessary for us to successfully navigate the journey of life.



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We Can't All Be Butterflies

We know what we are, but know not what we 

may be. - William Shakespeare

Generally we know who and what we are, and we may even know what we aspire to become, but that is not a certainty. Circumstances change, and events beyond our control can alter the outcome.

Unlike this pretty fellow, who will one day become a beautiful Swallowtail butterfly, we don't necessarily know what lies ahead, or just around the corner for that matter. Just because we don't know what we may be doesn't mean we can't always strive to be our best selves.


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Looking Into Your Mirror

If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?

― Jalaluddin Rumi

Image Source: Wikipedia

Maulana Jalaluddin Rumi was many things. He was a Persian poet, a Sufi Mystic, a Sunni Muslim poet, an Islamic scholar and a theologian. He was born in 1207 A.D. and is considered one of the greatest spiritual masters. His poetry has also gained favor in the Western world in recent years.

So what is Rumi saying here? Obviously he is not talking about taking a rag and Windex® to your bathroom mirror. The rub is any little thing that doesn't suit you. It may be something as minor as being asked for the umpteenth time to take out the trash or mow the lawn, to a personal slight, real or perceived, that leaves you with hurt feelings.

Now for the mirror part. You want to be a shining example of humanity, but you can't be that person when every irritation grates at you so much that your finish becomes dull and you are unable to shine. In order to shine again, you must find a way to change how you handle the rubs on the inside so that your surface may be polished and your inner goodness is reflected in your mirror.

How is your mirror looking these days?

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