First love...and true love

These are two different loves that I have experienced in my life. Each is totally different in so many ways from the other.

My first love was when I was a young impulsive girl, thinking it was wise and so romantic to marry this handsome fellow so soon after we met. I did not know his true character or weaknesses. I did not know enough to look for the important qualities that would make for a good husband. Years down the road, the many problems in the marriage led to heartache and divorce.

My true love came along when I was older and more mature. I was wiser in my choosing, wiser in what to look for and observe in the fellow; things that would add to making a good lasting foundation in a marriage. True love is built on trust, kindness, consideration, unselfishness, patience and tenderness.

Snow Angels

Those who live in snow country have the delightful opportunity to make snow angels. You are never too old to try it...it brings back the child in you. Go ahead...lay down on your back in an area of snow that has not been disturbed, spread both your arms out and move them up and down in the snow forming angel wings. With your legs you do movements like jumping jacks, forming the angels robe. Now gently and carefully get up and move away from where you were laying, and turn around and view your creation.

Those who do not live in snow country or who have never made a snow angel...so sad !

Time steadily ticks away

Wouldn’t it be nice to stop or slow down time once in a while and to adjust it to our liking? If we are hurrying to get somewhere we could just slow time down a bit; if we think the month is going by too fast for us we could stop time for a day or two; if we need more hours in a day we could fix that too.

But sadly, time steadily ticks away and we can do nothing about it.

Needy ?

I consider myself to be a needy type person at times. Is it okay to be needy once in a while? Once in a while?

Just think of the opportunity for service that we provide for others through our neediness. Besides...everyone likes to be fussed over sometimes. Okay, I’m kidding.....or not.

Building walls

image from: http://whoislauralee.blogspot.com/

The walls I am talking about, are those we build around ourselves. There are many situations that might cause us to put up a wall. These walls tend to protect us from further hurts, or to soften the harshness of the world.

I have my so called walls, even though they are not very tall or solid. Maybe it is not a healthy thing to do, but for me it helps me cope many times with life. I do not try to escape reality, but just find a way to deal with things temporarily that might tend to shake my foundation and overwhelm me.

Pride and vanity

Beware lest a person exceeds in pride and vanity.

Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. Pride and vanity comes into play when we refer to things such as: our intelligence, personal appearance, social standing, financial status, education, and family background, to name a few.

How would we honestly and sincerely judge our self...what number on the scale would we choose.

Our efforts

All the myriad of activities we do each day, takes some amount of effort on our part. Some of that effort that we expend is greater one time and lesser another time, depending on what is required of us both physically, mentally or emotionally.

But what if we are afraid to invest any effort that might be required of us to undertake a particular activity or venture? What if we cause ourselves to hesitate, to doubt, to question, and to rationalize what that effort might cost us, and I am not speaking of money?

Aren’t some efforts worth the risk, worth whatever it costs? Or will we continue on our journey of life, forever wondering?

Trying something new

As a rule, generally I am not one to be adventuresome and try something new…but I surprised myself the other day and rode a 4- wheeler all by myself ! That is quite an accomplishment for this senior citizen.

I found that I really enjoyed that big hunkin machine and it was fun to ride around on the small dirt roads. I mused to myself what I had been missing all these years.

We all need to know that someone cares

It must be human nature...and need...to have the longing to know that SOMEONE cares about us. To know that someone thinks and remembers about us and our situation or problems. That someone cares enough to call us and ask us how we are doing, and if they can help in any way.

It can be a pretty lonesome and despairing life if we feel that no one remembers or cares about us. These times can magnify themselves during the period of illness, post surgery, grieving, divorce, and depression.

Let us all remember to make sure that those around us KNOW that we care about them and remember them in their trials and suffering.

Struggle

What is it that causes some of our days to be happy and easy, and then some of our days to be sad and difficult? It’s almost as if we are very fickle in this regard. It would be nice to be happy and have life fairly easy all the time, but then maybe we would not learn and grow emotionally if this was so.

So that must mean that it is a good thing to struggle at times? Struggle is good? Oh...struggle makes us strong. Okay.

The playground of life

We can view life as very serious, or very humorous, or very adventuresome, or very difficult, or a mixture of all of these. Most of us I think view life as a mixture.

However we view life, in my estimation it is very important and therapeutic to have some very good “playtime”. If we have playtime...then where is our playground? One playground can be in our thoughts, one can be in our hearts, one can be in our attitude, and one can be through our eyes as we view our everyday life and interaction with others around us.

Let us not be so serious and afraid of life that we forget to take time to play and really enjoy and treasure the many moments that come to us.

Actors and Actresses

I watch a lot of movies. It is one of the excellent therapies I use for my depression, and it also serves as a wonderful relaxation for me which enables me to recharge my introvert self.

While I watch these movies and TV shows, I can’t help but zero in more so, at times, at the actors/actresses portraying the characters in the show. I watch carefully their facial expressions, body language, the tone of their dialog, etc., and I am in complete awe at their performances. I truly marvel at their talent, ability, and gift....and I respectively applaud them.

Try it....you might just LOVE it !!

Bella Swan and Edward Cullen

Vegetarian vampires, good werewolves, a 17 year old girl, tender romantic love, bonding friendships.....what more can you ask for in a "hold your breath, can't put it down" series of books by new author, Stephenie Meyer. Her website is:

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/

The "Twilight" saga of 4 books will keep you obsessed with them. You won't get any work done and you will not get enough sleep because you will stay up half the night reading. I am into the last book, and it is the best of them all.

On November 21, the movie "Twilight" will premiere. It is based on the first book. Click on the following link to view some trailers:

http://twilightseriestheories.com/movie/trailers/

The following link will take you to another site to learn more about the books and their story, video clips of the movie, movie cast, cast bios, photo gallery, etc.:

http://www.twilightfreak.com/

Birds of a feather, flock together

We have all heard that old saying, haven’t we? But have we really pondered the words and the meaning of it?

My thoughts about it are: we feel comfortable with others who think and feel as we do; like-minded people seem to be drawn to each other; birds have wings and fly so maybe we too can successfully soar when encouraged by others in “our group”; a flock is many who are headed in the same direction; we feel safe, protected, and strong within our so-called flock.

There are all types of friends

There is the friend who, after 6 months or more, finally cares enough to give you a call.

Then there is the friend who can’t find their other closer friends to go do something with, and so they will call you.

How about the friend who calls you only when they want something from you.

And what about the treasured true friend who calls you often just because they care about you enough to want to see how you are doing and maybe wants to get together for lunch or a movie or whatever, and then they make a definite date with you to do it.

All kind of friends...and which kind of friend are YOU?

Lonely

It is tremendously hard to lose a spouse to death. Time somewhat softens the pain...but the loneliness still remains, ever reminding me that I am alone even in a crowd.

Teach children how to be a good future husband or wife

Being a good spouse in a marriage does not come to us instinctively. One has to learn and understand the basic elements of kindness, patience, love, unselfishness, service, compassion, tenderness, good communication, being a good listener, and much more.

Some of these qualities do seem to come naturally to some people, as if they were born with a gift. Some are qualities we CAN learn and develop. But they are all so very important to the happiness and success of a marriage.

It is never too late to teach children these things…to nurture and instill within them these qualities. Then, when they are old enough for marriage, they will be ready…and they will be able to be a good husband or wife.

Aging

There are many laughs and jokes about the aging process. It seems like we can compare notes pretty good with others who are in the same cycle of life, all of which helps us to feel like we are not alone in the things we physically experience and feel.

Aging is a season of life that we can’t escape, unless called back to our heavenly home much earlier. I have dreaded the aging process way before I arrived at it, perhaps compounding the obvious somewhat difficulty of it. But it is part of the plan of life for us all, even though we don’t welcome its intrusion. We can’t hide or run from it. We can only do our best, as we ride the waves of aging.

Individual critique

The dictionary shows the word critique as meaning: a critical review; the art of criticism.

Ok, with that said, my focus will now be turned to movies. I absolutely love to sit and get lost in watching movies. Movies help my depression times and they also help me relax, unwind, and recharge myself because I have an introvert personality.

I have a membership with Netflix, the online movie rental company, and a lot of times I read the member reviews for a certain movie to see what their comments are. Many times their feelings about a certain movie matches mine, but there is always the one or two individuals who are very negative and picky. Other times I find most of the reviews for a certain movie to be very different than mine..very negative. Maybe that is what a movie review is suppose to be about…critical critiquing.

Most movies that I watch, I do enjoy. I am not a harsh movie critic...I watch to be entertained, not to tear a movie to shreds with criticism.

Life's trials...a way to help others

We all suffer through life’s trials and tests. Some of us struggle and suffer more than others and some of us learn great lessons from it.

My personal feeling is that we grow and learn from the things we suffer, and the knowledge we gained through our trial offers us the ability to help others who are going through the same thing.

Liking yourself and feeling comfortable in your own skin

(the above illustration is from the following website):
http://www.joethegeek.info/samples.html

We human creatures have so many different personalities from one another. Some of us are introverts. Some are extroverts. And within each of these two categories are a myriad of other types of personalities and behavior. Maybe that is what makes the world such an interesting place.

No matter what personality we each have, it is important to like our self and who we are. Personally, I am an introvert…and just a few months ago discovered that fact. Before I learned the characteristics of being introvert, I thought I was a very odd duck. Once I learned about introverts and that I was one, it made all the difference in the world to me as far as liking and accepting myself for who and what I was. I felt that I was “ok” and not an odd person at all. I am feeling more comfortable in my skin, now.

America's old Route 66 highway

I was a teenager in the 50’s. During those years growing up, it was a carefree fun time for me. My eye view of life and America was different back then...life was slower, safer, easier. If you don’t believe me, just Google the popular songs back then, or the type of movies that were produced.

A highlight of my late teenage years was a road trip along Route 66, from Chicago to L.A. Known now as the Mother Road or the Great American Highway, that old path still exists today but is no longer a U.S. highway nor found on our current maps.

I remember how exciting it was for me to have the opportunity to travel through parts of eight states. Seeing so many states and viewing the people and landscape scenery was pretty awesome for a teenager who was mostly a home person.

2006 marked the 80th birthday of Route 66 and several movies came out celebrating this time. When the animated movie “CARS” came out in 2006, it rekindled old thoughts and feelings from my experience as a youth. I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful fun movie as I understand most of it included characters, cars, places, and even the plot itself was based on real people and places along Route 66.

Another movie which came out in 2006 was:

“Cars on Route 66” .. To mark the 80th birthday of America’s famed Route 66, author Michael Wallis hits the road from the Midwest to the West Coast in search of both unique and antique classic cars, talking to the often eccentric personalities who collect them. Stops along the 2,000 mile journey include the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield, Illinois, the Route 66 Casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Historic Route 66 Museum in Kingman, Arizona.

I recently discovered two fun websites about the old Route 66 highway that has photos and wonderful history. You might enjoy them also:

http://www.theroadwanderer.net/route66.htm

http://www.historic66.com

Our idiosyncrasies

During a conversation with someone lately, I shared some deep concern I had for some personal behavioral feelings I was having. I was surprised to learn that this person had some of the same feelings that I had.

It is amazing to me how much alike we may be to others, especially when we think that we are totally alone and distinct “in our idiosyncrasies”.

Are we too soft?

As I sat, thinking back 200 years ago and the life styles and ways they had of doing/accomplishing things, I personally am ever so grateful for those who invented “a better way”.

Life back then was naturally harder and more difficult than we are accustomed to today. In my mind, those people were strong, resilient and resourceful. I suppose we are the same sort of people today….but in some ways have we become too soft?

Having faith and hope when times are rough

With the uncertain economic conditions and natural disasters all around us, it is hard not to feel uneasy and yes, scared. But striving hard to exercise faith, hope, and trust in God can bring us the strength, guidance and sought for inner peace that we so desperately need and crave to get us through these times.

If we are prepared...

With the economy the way it is and the “signs of the times” upon us, it is more pressing than ever to brace our self by making preparations for what may come. We should not be like the little pig who built his house out of straw. Think ahead and plan and do. It is better to be over-prepared than under.

Heeding promptings

I have recently learned a painful, sorrowful lesson on ignoring mental promptings. For quite a few weeks now, I have had promptings to backup the files on my computer. I did not heed those repeated thoughts, hence the hard drive on my computer went out a few days ago. Now I am in nervous anticipation to hear back from the computer technicians on whether or not they can find and save ALL my files.

A lesson well learned, I am afraid.

Romantic Roses

I just got back home from a trip to Colorado where I had shared in the joy of one of my granddaughters weddings. It was a beautiful, wonderful wedding.

The center where the reception took place was decorated very elegantly with tall, very slender crystal vases on each table. Each vase had a flower arrangement created with red silk roses and greenery that draped down from the top of the vase. Rose petals were sprinkled around the base of the vase.

The seven tier wedding cake was decorated with bouquets of real red roses atop each tier. The brides bouquet was real red roses and white lilies; The four brides maids bouquets were all done in real red roses. Parents and grandparents had boutonnières and corsages of real red roses.

Roses are a most divine, delicate, beautiful, fragrant flower....the most romantic of all the flowers.

Mitch Albom's books

These are two books written by Mitch Albom, that have been made into movies. I have not read the books yet, but I thought the movies are very special and give you a lot to think about in your own life.


“Tuesdays with Morrie”, published in 1997

The true story of Morrie Schwartz and his relationship with his student, Mitch Albom. Both the film and the book chronicle the lessons about life that Mitch learns from his professor, who is dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.



“The Five People You Meet in Heaven” , published in 2003

On his 83rd birthday, Eddie, a war vet and a maintenance worker at the Ruby Pier amusement park, dies while trying to save a girl who is sitting under a falling ride. When he awakens in the afterlife, he encounters five people with ties to his corporeal existence who help him understand the meaning of his life.

Looking back in time

It is rather interesting for me to remember back into my youth and young adult years and analyze the sort of person I was then. What my values, hopes, dreams, ideas, and opinions were then, compared to now. It is amazing how life can change a lot of things through the years.

Writing...anyone can do it

Some people seem to think that to be a writer requires special talents and abilities. But I feel anyone can do it. The words that form our writings come from our mind, heart, and feelings. We all have those. True, some people have more creativity with the use of their words, but that should not stop us.

Writing is just putting those words onto paper. It is describing how we feel and think about something. It is expressing our self....in the same sense when we verbally speak to someone. I feel it is important to leave some of our “writings” behind.....something that we can share with our family and others that will always show a part of us....our inner mysterious self.

Mend the broken bridge

Families are so precious and important in the scheme and plan of our life. We may be to the point where we have not fully appreciated or understood that valuable insight yet.

As we mature and have experiences that make us realize how greatly we are linked and bonded to family members, then we begin to see the larger picture of what the word FAMILY really means.

One of the greatest tragedies in a family is to have someone within it, that has alienated them self from everyone....for whatever reason. And there are many reasons: being misunderstood; having hurt feelings; being judged too harshly; living a different lifestyle; etc.

Whatever reason is keeping family members from being a part of the family circle, it is very important to begin now to mend the broken bridge back into the family. It may not be easy...but it is NOT impossible!! Families are yearning for loved ones to return to them again. If such a person would begin today to turn their heart and minds towards their family again, they would discover the healing balm waiting for them in the open arms of their loved ones.

Watching kids at play

My daughter has a children’s day-care in her home. I live here too, and help her. The children she cares for range in ages from 5 months to 5 years.

It is so interesting to quietly stand back and observe the children at play. They can be so comical and creative, at times. They have wonderful imaginations and are also very good at mimicking adults while they play. They are just hilarious to watch and listen to.

Being a people person

I know that it is important and an ideal trait to be able to be a people person. But I feel that not everyone CAN be. It is evident that it takes a special gifted person with the qualities and abilities that are needed to be and feel that comfortable around lots of people all the time...and want to be.

A people person has to have that special personality and desire to want to meet and be involved with people and their life....to be able to interact easily and freely with others a lot. A people person needs to have the desire to want to know about many other people and to enjoy doing lots of things with them and to thrive on a very social life.

Too bad that is not me.

What is the purpose to Life!

The Good Samaritan

Someone made the above statement to me the other day. They were frustrated, perplexed and genuine in their comment. They were almost overwhelmed by life.

Maybe the answers to that statement, "what is the purpose to life", depends on several things, such as: Spirituality, Inner Wisdom, and The Test and Trials of Life. My feelings are:

SPIRITUALITY.......certainly our life long religious beliefs and church affiliation can help to answer some of the purposes to life. Also, sincere and deep prayer asking to know those truths that will answer our pondering.

INNER WISDOM......whatever years we have lived certainly have taught us things. The light of a higher power within us can guide us to the answers to the purpose to life. What does our softened, humble, and yearning heart speak to us, on this matter?

THE TEST AND TRIALS OF LIFE.......all of us have to endure the refiners fire of life. If we meekly allow it, that is how we grow and progress to be a better person each day and are then able to reach out to others in need, because we have been through it and gained experience and strength. Some of our trials and tests in life can be so hard and heavy, that it almost bring us to our knees in pain and sorrow...but then a loving Deity helps us to rise to our feet and then we are able to be an instrument in His hands, to reach out to others and help them through their similar difficulties, so that they too can once again rise up on their feet, being stronger and wiser and refined, because of their tribulation. Then this cycle is lovingly passed on to others in need. Isn’t this in itself, a wonderful purpose to life?

Liking your own company

I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t like my own company. Most of the time I do things by myself.....movies, lunch, classes, plays, meetings, sitting in the park, etc.

I have been doing things with only myself for a long time and I enjoy and feel comfortable doing it. There are advantages for doing things alone....I can pick any old time I want to go do something and not have to PLAN it with another person; I don’t have to worry about not being able to do something because I can’t find someone to do it with.

I am very good company, I am dependable, and I have fun being by myself because I can do a lot of thinking and meditating about things.

The wonderful talent of others, and how they share it

His name is Michael Israel, a unique artist. He has a very different, creative, and entertaining way of painting. Click on the link below to watch him:

http://www.youtube.com/v/QZFkZiwMLZ4

Yard sales

After recently preparing and hosting our yard sale, I have definitely come to the conclusion that it is the work best suited for the younger generation.

I have always LOVED to travel and browse other people’s yard sales and find wonderful treasures...and when I was younger I did not mind all that much having a sale of my own. But like I said...hosting a yard sale is for younger bodies that don’t feel stiff and achy from head to toe afterwards.

Refreshing RAIN

I don’t think when I was a youth and young adult that I appreciated the rain very much. It was more of a hindrance or a nuisance to me, back then.

Now, as a much older adult, I have come to enjoy the rain very much. I am one who also thoroughly enjoys fragrances....natural fragrances. There is nothing that quite compares to the fresh clean fragrance of the outdoor air after a good rain.

I also love to feel the rain on my face...it is very refreshing AND moisturizing. So that is a good thing, too!!

Besides the great aid and benefit rain is to Mother Earth, it also benefits and aids ME in providing and adding to my pure enjoyment and delight in the wonderful wet stuff.

What determines our "favorites" ?

Have you noticed how many people have differing opinions on what they classify to be their "favorite”, for anything? If you think about it...almost everything under the sun can be a candidate for someone’s favorite. A to Z.... you name it. Think about foods, sports, places, pets, colors, hobbies, movies, TV, etc. The list is endless.

Ok...we all have our favorites. So, what makes them our favorites?

I for one have my very own favorite male actors (of our modern day era). MY choices are based upon several things that I deem important to me. A few of them are: ability, style, talent, looks, (and this next one is VERY important and impressive to me, and always wins my vote, as far as I am concerned)....and that is, the extreme amount of time and work involved by the actor to thoroughly learn about his character enough to uniquely portray them. The films, “Walk the Line” (excellent in that regard), “Tootsie”, “Rain Man” and “Mrs. Doubtfire” are just a few that come to mind. I realize there are many, many movies like these.

Of course my favorite movies are not necessarily your favorites because I mostly lean towards love stories. And you may also look for different qualities in an actor, than I do.

Our choices are unique to us, individually. Take colors for instance. My favorite color is baby blue. Why do I LOVE that color so much? It is a warm, soft color. Blue compliments my skin color, eyes and hair. So I am drawn to the color blue.

Think about ALL of YOUR varied favorites. Mentally ponder the reasons you chose each favorite. It can be very interesting and it can teach you something about yourself.

Ok...so I know you are dying to know my favorite actors: Johnny Depp, Patrick Dempsey, Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, and Nicolas Cage.

Our personalities

photo from: http://www.petswithpersonality.co.uk/

We all come with distinct personalities....so many different types that it is hard to imagine. Are we born with our personalities or do we develop it as we grow and mature? Is it possible to change our personalities, if we desire to?

Sometimes I do not like parts of my personality. I feel like it gets me into trouble occasionally....and can cause others to want to distance themselves from me. I have this playful sense of humor, sometimes, that I think others don’t appreciate! Is it possible to consciously change my personality?

I went online and did some research and one site made the statement that: “studies done around Temperament suggest that we are each born with our temperaments intact”.

May I share more?

It was interesting to read about one persons studies and observations. He created the theory of temperament associated with types. He developed his own descriptions for the four temperament categories and the sixteen personality types that fit into one of the four temperament categories.

In case you are interested....I will continue.

I will now list his descriptions of the four temperaments, and below each one is the individual personality types that go with it.

“The Guardians” ...(security seeking)

* The Supervisors
* The Inspectors
* The Providers
* The Protectors

“The Artisans” ...(sensation seeking)
* The Promoters
* The Crafters
* The Performers
* The Composers

“The Rationals” ...(knowledge seeking)
* The Field marshals
* The Masterminds
* The Inventors
* The Architects

“The Idealists” ...(identity seeking)
* The Teachers
* The Counselors
* The Champions
* The Healers


If you want to learn more, click on the following link:

http://personalitypage.com/four-temps.html

Learning the hard way

We have all heard that expression. To me it means that when we continually take chances, have near misses, and don’t learn from our mistakes right off the bat.....then one day we are FORCED to learn the lesson through a hard, painful and uncomfortable way.

When that forced lesson comes upon us, we regret (or not) that we didn’t choose to learn it sooner. Life’s lessons are for a purpose...that we might grow and progress to be the very best we can be.

With our learned experience, we can in turn, help others learn. Obedience to laws....whether nature’s, man’s, or God’s....temper us that we may be molded and refined into wonderful beings.

Genealogy....are you doing it?

Genealogy.. is the search for information on our ancestors. It is compiling a list of our ancestors and their descendants and discovering where WE fit into the pedigree line. It is learning more about a certain ancestor...what kind of person they were and what they did in their life. It is coming to truly KNOW and understand the family we came from. In order to know and understand ourselves better....we need to know WHO we came from.

I have two blogs that I devote to Genealogy....one of which is writing about your life story. In order for our descendants...our posterity... to know about us way in the future....we need to leave something about ourselves in the here and now.

Click on the following links to learn how to begin doing your Genealogy and how to start writing your life story.


http://stepatatimegenealogy.blogspot.com/

http://wwwyourlifestory.blogspot.com/

Learning patience

They say that “patience is a virtue”.

The word virtue means any admirable quality or merit that is of excellence.

The word patience means the quality of enduring without complaint; the exercise of sustained perseverance; forbearance toward the faults or infirmities of others.

The word patient (in this sense) means possessing quiet, uncomplaining endurance under distress; tolerant and forbearing; capable of tranquilly awaiting events; persevering.

So.....with all these definitions of “patience is a virtue”......where do we individually stand? How easily is patience learned?

To really and completely and fully learn patience and all that it entails......IS truly a virtue.