High Flying Faith
October 30, 2008
Back and forth. Small feet pushing into the air, reaching, calves and legs that stretch and then-pull back, commanding that pocket of air to follow along, backward, back, back and then swoosh…head thrown back, arms, fingers gripping the chain, full body press, and legs, feet , stretched-out toes, press to the sky, commanding the air, communing with birds, surpassing the top of the crosspole and before you take that eventual dip back one more time…you feel it…the sureness of it. The rush of it. The truth of it.
You CAN FLY. You were meant to fly. You were born to fly through the air on wings as birds.
You knew it as a child. You felt it. You believed it. You knew it on the swingset. You knew it standing on tree branches and perched at the top of the towers that you climbed. “Look at me…I can FLY!”
And in your dreams, you still know it is so.
So you fell a few times. Logic and the world around us tries to tell you it isn’t so.
You can’t fly…you aren’t a bird. You weren’t meant for greatness and dreams and faith. Put your feet on the ground and rest your mind on solid things….Isn’t that what the world tries to grind into us day after day, newscast after newscast?
I say…
Poppycock.
I came across this today. I wanted to share it with you. I wanted to remind you that once, we all KNEW we could fly. WE all KNEW we were capable of remarkable things. We all KNEW we possessed inside of us the greatness to achieve anything we put our minds, actions and faith to.
CAN, WILL and BELIEVE, My friends.
Together!
YOU CAN FLY IF YOU WANT TO
You can fly if you try, you can soar with the eagles if you dare, or you can run with
the turkey’s who don’t care.
You can be a total winner even if you’re a beginner, if you think you can you can, if
you think you can, you can.
You can wear the gold medallion, you can ride your own Black Stallion, if you think you can you can, if you think you can, you can.
You can raise your C’s up to A’s and your F’s to D’s maybe even be in the school
play, if you think you can you can, if you think you can, you can.
It’s not your talent or your gift at birth, it’s not your bank book that determines your
worth. It isn’t in the color of your skin but it’s your attitude that lets you win.
You can go beyond exhaustion, you can win the marathon in Boston, if you think
you can you can, if you think you can, you can.
You could have finished off Darth Vadar, you can out debate Ralph Nadar, you can profit through inflation and you can direct this nation, if you think you can, you can.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve won before, it makes no difference what the half-time
score. It’s never over until the final gun if there was one so you keep on trying and
you’ll find that you’ve won.
You grab your dream and then believe it, go out and work and you’ll achieve it if
you think you can, you can, if you think you can you can.
You believe in God and you’re half-way there, you believe in your family and you
country and you’re three-quarters there, and then you believe in yourself and you’re
nine-tenths there, but you believe and you’ll become that by which men and women
live…which is the most powerful thing of all; and that is FAITH - it is the moving
cause of all action.
~Denis E. Waitley with Darol Wagstaff
Still on Fire with Nothing to Wear
October 28, 2008
I think it’s kind of funny that I just participated in a Life Balance Project at Stacey’s Blog over at Create A Balance. It was nice of her to let me in. Maybe she should have barred the door when she saw me coming. There were a lot of great posts from people who are really good at balancing their teeter-totter. Like I said, in my last post, Teeter-totter tribulations, I’m not so good at keeping that thing even, I’m more of an ebb and flow kind of a girl.
For awhile around here, the water is going to be a little less ebb and flow and more like a raging storm or full on Forest Fire as I turn the RADAR FOCUS on to High speed. John and I have started directing a full length production of Charles Dickens’ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, which will be presented here in December. This production will be the end result of a long-term vision and goal that has been living in our brains for quite awhile. Along with the rest of my life, this is going to be a full time committment for me and may slow things down in the writing here and visiting of of all of the blogs in my feed reader. I beg you to hang in there for the short term, while I turn up the flames and make this dream come true!!
I have been meaning to highlight some of the posts that were buried in the archives from our old house that only my six subscribers, and my kids, at the time ever saw, so now seems like a good time.
Especially this first one…since after all this time…it’s very MUCH still true.
Catch on Fire but Don’t Burn the Laundry
originally posted on March 27, 2008
” Catch on Fire with Enthusiasm and People will Come from Miles to Watch You Burn”
John Wesley
There are days that the moment my feet hit the floor, I am driven by the desire, the passion, the very need, to succeed at my mission. Whatever that mission may be at the time, I can not drive the singular focus out of my head. It is a drumbeat, a rhythm, an obsession that calls to me. Wherever I am, whatever I am doing, I am pulled back to the mission, the plan…the goal…and I am practically useless to anyone or anything else.
My close friends and family call this Wendi’s “radar focus”. It is my best secret for success and my biggest flaw all rolled into one.
I can’t help it.
One thing I am an expert on is enthusiasm. When I catch on fire, its hard to put me out. It can take entire fire departments to derail me and get me back to the land of the living. Smoke ends up all over the place, and things can end up in a big mess as I probably haven’t even looked around at anything else other than my goal for a long time.
One of the things that I have been working in the past few years is balancing my surge of enthusiasm with living in the day to day”real world”. The simple ( well, simple for other people) act of managing parenting and household tasks, along with working, while in the throws of unbridled enthusiasm for a project is very difficult for me to balance. For most people, this is where the enthusiasm starts to ebb away. For me, this is where the laundry starts to pile up.
Often, I get comments from people that know me regarding my enthusiasm. “Man, I wish I had half of your enthusiasm” they say.
That part is easy. Here you go:
Wendi’s Tips for Getting out of Bed on Fire:
1. Find your passion. Name something you feel very strongly or passionately about or something that you have always wanted to do. Journal it, daydream it, play the “If I could do anything I wanted and fear or money was no object, what would it be?” game. Ask yourself what you want your legacy to be at the end of your life. What would you like to be remembered for? What do you most regret having NOT done so far in your life? If there is an answer to any of these questions write it down.
2. Make a list. Write down every single reason you have not taken action on that goal. Look at that list. Everything on that list that has to do with fear, cross off. It doesn’t count. Never run your life based on fear. Dare to fail. It’s good for you. Everything else on that list is a learning experience, not an obstacle. Start numbering them and start learning. Accept no excuses as to why you can’t learn about those things.
3. Start seeing the possibilities. Get out a new piece of paper and write down what your life will look like after you have succeeded in your goal. Will the world be a better place? Will you have improved as a person? See the vision. Make an action plan with the items that were left on your list. Make sure you put it in writing. Just thinking about it isn’t good enough.
4. Break down the vision into reachable goals. Once it starts to look doable, your confidence will start to build. Once you begin to believe it is achievable, the spark of enthusiasm will start to ignite.
5. Fan the flames. Read as much inspirational material as you can from several sources. Zig Zigler, James Allen, Jim Rohn are three sitting on my desk right now. Currently popular are The Secret and Law of Attraction. Whatever feeds your fire is great, but feed it you must, fires require oxygen and positive energy is the enthusiastic fire’s fuel.
6. Proclaim your vision to visionaries-not vampires. Sharing your goals and dreams with other like-minded positive, energetic, enthusiastic people will create a windstorm of energy flowing in your direction. You will feel the current as it swirls around, creating ideas, solutions and connections that you never even dreamed possible. Conversely, share your dreams with an energy vampire and watch them suck the life-energy and confidence right out of your soul. Stay away from them if you can, but for sure, DON’T tell them your plans!
7. Speak the language. Watch the words that are allowed to come out of your mouth. The Bible says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.” Do yourself a favor and take this one literally. Words are king! They have the power to affect thought and action. The language of enthusiasm is positive, energized, creative, fun, adventurous, electrified! Don’t speak the language of the defeated, the downtrodden, the bored, the worn out…feel how the energy goes up and down? Keep your energy supercharged with supercharged words.
8. Create a community of Enthusiasts. When I was in Real Estate, I found that the average Realtor was very competitive with other Realtors and therefore did not function in a state of community with other Realtors. It was hard to keep enthusiasm going day after day, year after year all alone in such a stressful job. That is one of the reasons that burn out in that field is very high. Several of us top-producers got together and created a small group that met monthly to brainstorm, share tips and ideas and build enthusiasm. It created synergy and made us all better than we would have been working alone. Helping others to succeed will always help you to build more excitement for yourself. It’s fun and its rewarding. Energy builds energy.
9. Absorb the Vision. Create a written one or two sentence mission statement for your goal and read it and say it out loud to yourself every day. Say it the first thing when you wake up in the morning. Say it the last thing as you are drifting off to sleep at night. Don’t fall asleep listening to the news or negative information. Fall asleep thinking about your mission, reading information about it or writing in your journal about it. You will wake up ready to hit the floor on fire!
10. Keep Physically fit. Make sure your body can keep up with your brain! Its hard to stay on fire, when you are exhausted, sick, sleep-deprived, starving or hung-over. Schedule in time for exercise breaks, healthy meals, fresh air and plenty of sleep.
Now about that second part? Like I said, it’s a work in progress.
I am not an expert on being enthusiastic with balance.
So far, what has been helping me is to create rituals that I can do automatically without thinking. The key to this is the “not thinking”part, because I will be up in my head somewhere writing or creating or wondering up a big “what if I do this?” idea for my project. Having systems and routines in place that can happen on auto-pilot has been a huge help. FlyLady.net has been a big help in getting me started with morning and evening routines that have become a daily habit.
Here are just a few of the things that FlyLady has taught us that are making a difference in keeping me on fire without setting the house on fire too. Her website FlyLady.net will explain everything in detail.
1. Create rituals for daily maintenance items. Lay out clothes the night before, pack lunches, get the coffee ready, and her most important one…shine the sink and lay out a fresh towel! It is remarkable how lovely it is to wake up to a shiny sink!
2. Do a load of clothes every day. Wash, dry and put away. Keeping that mountain of laundry from taking over has been a huge help at our house!
3. You can’t clean clutter, get rid of it! The more I do this, the better off we are. Period. End of story.
4. Swish and swipe bathrooms as you “go”. It only takes a few minutes. Really.
5. Plan out weekly dinner menus in advance. Write them on the calendar so you don’t have to think about it, while you are busy thinking about other things!
6. Spend Fifteen Minutes. It’s amazing how much you can do in fifteen minutes. Set a timer and promise yourself that you will spend fifteen minutes on something. You will be surprised how much you get done. Start sneaking in those extra 15 minutes and they start to add up.
I would love for you to leave me your ideas on this too! Although I have come a long way, the only thing I am really good at balancing is my exercise ball! Feel free to send in your tips! I could use them!
Teeter-Totter Tribulations
October 23, 2008
Sticky summer nights, the smell of Cracker Jacks and the drone of engines lined up like soldiers in the Drive-in movie theater. This was the playground of my family’s Saturday nights when I was a young girl growing up.
A picnic of sandwiches, chips and soda-pop preceded the moment that we children considered the highlight of the evening, which was being allowed to escape the confines of the family station wagon and fly off to play for a half hour on the playground dwarfed by the giant screen above it.
It was a simple playground, not like the amusement park replicas our children play on today. It had a metal slide, tall with a wave in the middle, which we would cleverly slide over with a slice of our mother’s wax paper to make it far more slippery than any mother now would consider safe. It had a Merry-go-round, a cylinder disc with curved bars to hold on to- while some energetic child would hold on and run circles on the ground and teach us what could happen to children who didn’t hold on tight in this world.
The most unique piece of equipment was the giant drum. All of the kids would cram into the drum like rats in a sewer and we would lean to one side as the drum began to move. The more we pushed, the faster it went until the force of our actions caused it to move with great speed and we all went tumbling over one and another into a screaming, laughing heap. Some of the kids would get scared and get out. Some of the kids would scream to go faster. Someone ALWAYS got hurt. It was inevitable. It was usually my sister. It was a blast.
When my crazy (fearless) sister wasn’t commandeering the drum, she was likely to found swinging from the top of good old-fashioned Monkey Bars. While more sedate and cautious children, like me, were down below examining the risks, she was shimmying up the poles, one hand after the other, climbing over slower, more hesitant children, rushing to the top. Every now and then, she would fall off. Once in awhile she would sprain or twist a body part, but she would dust herself off, find another way up and try another route, and before long there she would be again, calling for me to join her from the top…the highest Monkey in the land.
My personal favorite piece of equipment was the Teeter-Totter. I was always trying to get someone to go on the teeter-totter with me. I was fascinated by the concept of it. The fact that you couldn’t go on the Teeter-totter by yourself and have it DO anything was both a marvel and an annoyance that I couldn’t get over. I wasn’t satisfied to continue going up and down, up and down, up and down on the thing. I wanted to play on the Teeter-Totter for the same reason I kept jumping out of trees. I wanted to do the impossible. I wanted to fly- and I wanted the teeter-totter to stay suspended in perpetual balance up in the air.
The fact that I was a complete failure at this experiment-at least for more than a mere second or two at a time- never seemed to faze my cohorts or me. We would try, repeatedly, to get just the right momentum going, just the right balance, to get those both sides to match and stay suspended in space…before one side or the other would fall and we would dissolve into a fresh fit of laughter.
The signaling glow of the lightning bugs would always end our playground follies and bring us back to the movie portion of the evening. In looking back, I can’t name more than a few movies my family watched together on those mosquito nights with the scratchy little speakers pumping the sound inside our cramped car. But I do think about the lessons learned on the playground out there. The life lessons I learned by playing on “dangerous” paint-chipped equipment, which society put away long ago.
Power of Wax Paper. With a little wax paper, we can speed things up. If things are going a bit too slow or are problematic and not to our liking, we do have some control over the outcome. We can think it through, problem solve, come up with a solution and bring our own solution to the table (or slide) and not be a victim of a slow slide. We have the power to make change happen.
Truth about the Spin Cycle. The world is spinning FAST. It isn’t going to slow down for you to catch your breath, no matter how much you wish it would. If you let go, you may spin out into orbit and get conked on the head or get a fat lip. It’s your job to HOLD ON TIGHT. That doesn’t mean you always have to have a vice grip on it either. You can hold on and scream your head off or you can hold on, laugh your head off, and have fun. You are still in control. But YOU CAN’T LET GO.
Teamwork Turns the Drum. As long as we all worked together to keep the giant drum turning, it didn’t matter if we went fast, slow or in-between. It only mattered that we communicated and worked together. Then we could have fun. As soon as everyone only started thinking for themselves, people fell over, got trampled and got hurt.
Falling isn’t Failure. My sister wasn’t failing every time she fell off of the Monkey bars. She was learning a better, faster way to shimmy up to the top. Soon, there wasn’t a kid from miles around who could climb up there faster than she could. The rest of us were still trying to figure things out from down below, staring up. Rarely do we learn looking up, we learn looking down at where we’ve been.
Life’s a Teeter Totter. The bad, really sad news is that life isn’t going to balance. Our teeter-totters, balls, balloons, marbles or anything else we try to juggle and toss up there aren’t going to stay suspended in perfectly balanced animation NO MATTER HOW HARD we try, and no matter how hard we WISH, or VISUALIZE them too.
Remembering that Life is a Teeter-Totter, we realize that we aren’t playing out here all alone. Many of us have trouble balancing our lives because we try to do it in a vacuum- and then are surprised when Life and people get in the way. We design the perfect balance plan and someone walks in with an important need and hand-grenades our strategy to bits. Their turn up, our turn down. We must ALSO build in times for our turn at UP. Because if we don’t…it might not come. We have to bring our own wax paper and make things happen for ourselves. We can’t wait for it. We need to start now. We can also shoot for those rare moments of middle ground. Just don’t expect them to be the norm.
Remembering that life is a teeter-totter, we realize that just because we haven’t achieved the perfect Zen of life balance doesn’t mean we are failing. It means we are learning. We are growing new ideas and expanding our understanding about who we are as authentic human beings in communion with other authentic human beings. Sometimes we get caught up in feeling as if we are the only ones in the spin cycle. Not true. We are all in the Drum together and we can keep it turning through better communication, compassion and teamwork. Teamwork keeps us from tripping over each other. TRUE LIFE BALANCE comes as we grow as individuals and in community with each other.
You can’t ride the Teeter-Totter alone.
This post is being submitted as part of the Life Balance Group Writing Project at Create a Balance
Rainy Days and Mondays
October 20, 2008
A consistent drumbeat of rain has been my companion this gloomy Monday morning as I sit here catching up on my lists and projects. The drainpipe out my window has the hollow pitter-patter of rainwater splattering as it hits the ground below. It’s a good day to put a few logs in the fireplace, rustle up a pot of steaming hot Chili and cornbread for dinner and hunker in for the day.
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.
Isn’t that what Karen Carpenter taught us back in 1971? A gloomy rainy Monday is a good enough reason to call in the depression? I don’t usually have that reaction. A good rainy Monday might feel like a slower more relaxed start, or I might not feel like hitting the ground running at warp speed but a little rain doesn’t usually have the power to make me want to throw the covers back over my head. What’s funny is that all these years later a good rainy Monday will get me thinking about that song. It was one of my favorites back then, all the way back then when I was eleven and really believed that a rainy Monday was as good a reason as any other to throw in the towel and give in to the gloomy attitude that was always hovering just one raincloud over my pre-teen head. Everything seemed like a near-tragedy back then. Now I look at the words and I wonder what in the world I was thinking to listen to that garbage.
RAINY DAYS AND MONDAYS
Talkin’ to myself and feelin’ old
Sometimes I’d like to quit
Nothing ever seems to fit
Hangin’ around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.
What I’ve got they used to call the blues
Nothin’ is really wrong
Feelin’ like I don’t belong
Walkin’ around
Some kind of lonely clown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.
Funny but it seems I always wind up here with you
Nice to know somebody loves me
Funny but it seems that it’s the only thing to do
Run and find the one who loves me.
What I feel has come and gone before
No need to talk it out
We know what it’s all about
Hangin’ around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.
Then I remember. There are days that people…and I am one of them, really do feel like that once in awhile. There are some people that feel like that most of the time. There are a few people that feel like that ALL of the time.
Feeling like they want to quit, feeling like nothing fits. Feeling like they don’t belong, some kind of lonely clown, hangin’ around, with nothing to do but frown…
Are we there to encourage them? Are we going to be the ones they come running to for a little encouragement? The one they will run to, to find the one who loves them?
OR do we get impatient. Do we tell them to snap out of it, this won’t last, it’s only Monday, the sun will come out tomorrow…bet your bottom dollar…
Do we listen or do we deflect?
Are we a haven in their storm? A beacon? A light?
I have to be careful. Because sometimes in my earnest attempt at being positive and hopeful, I push so hard at the darkness that I risk pushing away the person feeling consumed with the darkness. They can’t separate themselves enough from it to realize that I’m not pushing THEM away. I don’t want to do that. I want to encourage, love, comfort, be that haven from the rain that they so desperately need.
I try to be aware. But it’s tricky. On rainy Mondays, maybe because of that silly song, I am more aware. It reminds me to be thoughtful. It reminds me that some people are feeling like that and I need to be sensitive and alert. Not just blundering through with my Pollyanna attitudes and platitudes expecting that everyone else is having a good day too.
When I say “How’s your day?” I mean it…I’m trying to look carefully and with sensitivity to what’s going on. And yes…I should be doing this on sunny days too. It’s a good reminder for every day.
But that Karen…she belted out a message that is going to stick with me forever…and somehow Rainy Days and Mondays always get me…
More Aware.
Speaking From the Heart
October 16, 2008
On Sunday this week John and I will be performing a drama for the drama ministry at our church. It will be a portrayal of a husband and wife, sitting together, yet alone, on a sofa-he with the remote and the football game, her with her stack of glamour magazines and romance novels. Periodically, they will steal glances at each other when the other is not looking. Boredom fills the room. From overhead, through the speakers, the audience will then hear each of their thoughts projected into the space while they sit there, too afraid to say what is really on their mind. The title of the play…I Wish We Could Talk.
He feels as if he can’t compete with her fantasy romance novel world and the perfect heroes inside. She fears she can’t transcend being buried in mommyland all day long to become a desirable wife. She feels unnoticed, unappreciated, unloved…He feels like she doesn’t understand the pressure he is dealing with at work, he feels worthless, unsupported, uncared for.
Neither of them feel as if they are being listened to. Both of them desire someone to talk to. Both of them crave companionship. They long to share their deepest fears, their deepest needs with someone…anyone…
And yet..there they sit…in silence…alone…together.
I think this may be the saddest play I have ever been in. Saddest because it just ends with them sitting there. Never speaking to each other. Making the choice to stay lonely. Making the choice not to speak the desires of their hearts. Not to reach out to each other and grab on to love.
When it is right there next to them all the time.
How many times has this been you or me? How many times has the need for love been right there on the tip of your tongue and you have pushed it down, shoved it back into the corner of your heart, turned out the lights and sat in the dark alone when maybe, just maybe if you had taken the chance, reached out, spoken from the heart, someone might have listened, someone might have responded.
I know I have. I know there have been times I have bit my tongue and walked away, spent the night hashing over all the things I could of said in the repeat tape player in my mind.
It doesn’t have to be that way. The truth is that we all feel inadequate, alone, unloved and not good enough at one time or another.There is no shame in being able to share these thoughts out loud once in awhile with a trusted friend. There is no shame in reaching out to our loved ones and taking that hand, holding on for support, being honest with our emotions, sharing from the depths of our hearts.
The truth is that this is what builds deep bonds. Honesty. Trust. Knowing we can depend on sharing our true feelings with each other and not be hurt. But you have to be willing to risk those emotions in order to get to those friendships. You have to take a chance. It’s a risk…yes…but one that can have an amazing pay off. There just might be that someone waiting to listen, waiting to share, waiting to give love.
Or…you can just sit in silence. Alone.
It’s a choice.
Talk from the heart. It’s SO worth it.
Do it Anyway
October 15, 2008
Those of you who have been long time followers of Life’s Little Inspirations may know by now that one of my major passions in life is the concept of Community.
Unfortunately, in the blogging world, I worry sometimes that the word community may get a bit watered down as we use that word to mean our own little group of conversationalists who sit around and chat and joke and carry on around the blogosphere water cooler. And while that is precious to me and I adore all of you, the word COMMUNITY has a much larger and much more powerful meaning to me.
To me, the concept of community is a place full of hope and passion and responsibility and love for each other. It is a word that means family, friendship, brotherhood and taking care of one and another. A word that means responsibility, teamwork, caring and love. Looking out for each other. Being a part of something. Never being alone. Sharing. Not letting each other down. Being my brother’s keeper. Doing my part for the good of everyone else.
I have a vision of being a part of a world community. In THAT Community, the members would look out for each other and care for each other as one giant family. People wouldn’t isolate themselves to their *own* kind and only help those who shared their own beliefs or their own physical features. We would finally understand that we ARE all one, that we share beating hearts that love, and blood that bleeds, hands that can help and heal.
We CAN end poverty in our lifetime. We can end it by becoming the family and community that we are capable of being if we join together. If we can share the vision that we are so much more then the petty differences that keep us apart. We can end poverty If we can learn to search for the common ground of what is good in each of us and search for the love inside of each other by listening and caring and building each other up. No more tearing each other apart, no more hunting for the negative side, we need to learn to be hands that heal, hands that help, hands that feed, hands that teach. Then…we will be hands that end poverty.
As bloggers, we are already one step closer. We have already torn down the barriers that divide us. We have begun to create the communities here on our blogs. With wonderful awareness events such as Blog Action day we can shine a light on poverty, suffering, hunger and other social issues that need our attention if we will only use the amazing power that we have as bloggers and writers to make a difference.
One of my favorite women is Mother Teresa. She dedicated her life to fighting poverty. Even now, she continues to inspire countless people in the fight against poverty. It seems fitting to let her words speak today to inspire us to make a difference when it feels like nothing we can do will even make a dent in the struggles that we all face together.
Do It Anyway~Sign In Mother Teresa’s Office
People are unreasonable,
illogical, and self-centered,LOVE THEM ANYWAY
If you do good, people will
accuse you of selfish,
ulterior motives,DO GOOD ANYWAY
If you are successful, you win
false friends and true enemies,SUCCEED ANYWAY
The good you do will
be forgotten tomorrow,DO GOOD ANYWAY
Honesty and frankness
make you vulnerable,BE HONEST AND FRANK ANYWAY
What you spent years building
may be destroyed overnight,BUILD ANYWAY
People really need help but
may attack you if you help them,HELP PEOPLE ANYWAY
Give the world the best you
have and you’ll get kicked
in the teeth,GIVE THE WORLD THE BEST YOU’VE GOT ANYWAY.
The world needs us, all of us, to make a commitment to live as a loving community dedicated to world peace without hunger. Will you join this world community? How can you help?
October Tomatoes
October 13, 2008
The morning air is cool and crisp in the Midwest now as October paints autumn leaves in vibrant reds and golds. Puffs of breath fog the air from early walks with the dog and crystals of dew glitter on blades of grass as the sun rises in the sky. It’s last call on beautiful weather. Last call on clear blue skies and days that gradually warm with each hour of the rising sun until the perfect 75 degrees hits the mark.
In the garden, the tomatoes are slower to brighten to their orange-red glow. The yield is thinner and each glorious fruit is more precious than the last, each meaty slice full of juicy flavor.
Our favorite way to eat the garden tomatoes are to slice them thin, sprinkle lightly with a little sea salt, top with freshly torn basil leaves right from the garden and drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar. A mouth-watering delight worth dreaming about all year long, it can only be done with vine-fresh tomatoes. Anything less isn’t worth the effort.
Every October, with the first heavy frost looming on the horizon, the tomatoes seem to taste even better. Or perhaps they are just more appreciated knowing they will soon be gone again until next June. I daydream of building a greenhouse over the garden to stretch out the days. A fool’s dream, but one I have every year- designing the greenhouse in my mind, envisioning the ability to harvest fresh fruits and vegetables all through the brutal winter chill.
I want to make these precious days last. I want to savor every juicy moment, harvest every golden memory, bask in the wamth of the last lingering days of sun.
And although the season is short, I hang on tight to each day, fully appreciating the little time that is left. Time to finish up those last few summer dreams. Time to finish up those final chores that can be done outside while the weather holds. Time for a few more picnics, bike rides through the forest preserves, hikes through the woods.
Time for a few more tomatoes while they are still on the vine. I don’t want to waste a single one.
My Dog Missed the Memo
October 7, 2008
The average dog has one request to all humankind. Love me.
~Helen Exley
Bouncing Back
October 2, 2008
I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom
~George S. Patton.
I have failed at least forty-five times already this week. And no-I’m not keeping count. That is probably a low estimate. It is safe to say that in the world of trying to build a new addition to this website and doing it on my own that…
I AM A FAILURE
Big deal, so what, who cares. The job still has to get done. It’s on the goal list. It has a deadline. It’s part of the plan.
I feel like shoving the whole thing aside and going out for a run or just reading everyone else’s blogs instead. Make some nice comments. Eat chocolate. Eat more chocolate. Do my nails.
That won’t fix anything. You will still be a failure when you get back. You still won’t know how to create what you want. You’ll just be fatter…with nice nails.
But I feel like I am hitting my head against the wall, I’m going in circles and I’m getting dizzy. I’ve sunk to the bottom and I can’t get up. I don’t know where to go from here.
PERFECT. THEN THE ONLY PLACE TO GO IS UP
Look around, get some help, send in the reinforcements, cry out, admit your need, call in the Cavalry but whatever you do…DON’T GIVE UP. The bottom of the barrel is the perfect place to view the sky. Sometimes you can get the best perspective from there. Creativity often comes just before the proverbial towel has been thrown. Failure is a brutal but brilliant teacher. There is nothing like getting out in the trenches and feeling the sting of messing it up to really build the desire of learning.
Get Stubborn. Find your Inner Yorkshire Terrier if you have to. Grab on to the ankle of that giant problem and shake it until it comes toppling down. Take ten steps, take a deep breath and then take ten more. Keep on trudging but don’t you dare quit.
AS LONG AS YOU ARE BREATHING, SUCCESS IS AN OPTION
There is a way. There is a solution. There is someone who knows the answer. There is someone who can help unlock the door. Go ask, go find, search, learn, get better. GROW.
AS I FAIL, I WILL SUCCEED
UPDATE: The cavalry has arrived. Hurray for Angels! I have learned. I have figured it out. Mission complete. Huge Thanks to my daughter Lucky who rode in to save the day!
One task checked off the Life’s Little Inspirations check list…
Now presenting our new Life’s Little Inspirations Bookstore! INSPIRED BOOKS. Check it out! And believe me…it took a LOT OF FAILURE, a LOT OF STUBBORNNESS and a LOT OF HELP to make that happen!
