Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! And while this is a wonderful day to focus on romance and the love of your life, it is just a one-day reminder of the loving and thoughtful things that we need to be doing all year. Love is not something that just happens or is self-sustaining. Love is much like your garden. It requires care and feeding daily to provide a beautiful and bountiful return. You can weed your…
Everything in our world is continuously changing. You can’t stop the waves from moving across the ocean, the breeze from drifting across the plains, or the sun from rising in the east and setting in the west. All of these are forces of nature that are far stronger than we are. But you do have the ability to decide how these forces of nature impact your life. Instead of feeling overwhelmed by a wave of…
I can’t let this day slip away without wishing a very Happy Birthday to a very special person in my life. Sandy is actually my husband’s aunt, but she could not be more special to me and I could not love her any more than I do now. She is always there when I need a shoulder to lean on or a voice of reason. And she always provides the support and love with just…
Love is accepting everything about a person, both the good and the bad. Each person that you love has some little habit that drives you crazy, but you choose to overlook it because you love the person. The key is that you choose to overlook the bad because the good outweighs it. Now apply that same process to life. Life is filled with ups and downs. But when you choose to love your life, you…
No one has it all in this lifetime. Life is full of options and choices. And it is up to each of us to decide what and who is really important. Then it becomes our responsibility to make those people and things our priority. No one is going to create your perfect life and present you with your ideal home, job, mate, and family. All of these things require dedication and hard work to earn…
In most cases, the louder we speak, the less we are heard. Yelling or shouting is often tuned out by others. But a soft voice is the sound we use when we are sharing a secret or other valuable information. Speak softly and watch your listeners lean in to be sure that they catch every word that you are saying. Present them gently so that they are welcomed rather than throwing a loud bellow that…
Sometimes things happen in life that we just don’t understand. We get all riled up over it and begin this long-festering session. We want to know why it happened the way it did. What was the reason for it? On and on we go. But folks… none of that is worth it and it is -if I am being perfectly honest with you – a complete waste of time. We don’t have a say in what…
Doing the right thing is not as hard as we often think it will be. We know what needs to be done, and we just need to take responsibility for our actions and do it. Once you overcome your own fear and do what is right, your work is done. BUT, if you choose to try and cover up something that is wrong or somehow convert a wrong to a right, your battle is just…
As children, we are blessed with an amazing sense of resiliency. We fall down many times before we ever learn to take a step. But we never give up. We practice for weeks before we learn to control a crayon enough to scroll our first autograph. But we keep working on the task and refining our skills. And we struggle with many lessons before we come racing home from school to proudly display an assignment…
When you share positivity, people will appreciate it and, in most cases, pass it along to others. A smile, holding a door for someone, or paying for another person’s morning coffee, can quickly turn into a chain reaction that brightens hundreds of lives. And it all begins with your small act of kindness. Invest just a few seconds or dollars and know that your impact is reaching far beyond the one smile that you just…