What is your favorite quote and why?
I have many favorite quotes and this is one of them.
I did the crewelwork over 20 years ago,
and it has been hanging in my kitchen ever since.
When I made it, I was a big-time worrier! Seeing the quote every day helps keep things in perspective. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow isn’t here yet. What matters is today, a day filled with possibilities and promise.
Remember that not getting what you want
is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
Dalai Lama
Looking back at some of things I wanted, oh so badly, that didn’t happen or I didn’t get, I have to agree with the Dalai Lama’s thought. In hindsight, I can see how silly and childish some of my wants were. There were some that were just mean and vindictive wants of a selfish person. Growing up was harder than it had to be because I was so focused on my wants, I see that now.
It is said that with age comes wisdom. I don’t know if wisdom is the word I would use to describe myself but I do have some smarts that have come with age. I can still be silly and, not childish, but childlike at times and I work at not being mean or vindictive. Of course, I still have wants but they are fewer and not all that important. I have what I need. Really more than I need.
When I get a want that’s just a wonderful happening of life!
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The only way to get started
is to quit talking and begin doing.
Walt Disney
Good advice Mr Disney. However, most of the time I have no one to talk to, so I read. So far this year I have read 22 books. Obviously, I don’t read heavy intellectual books. I just read fiction and some memoirs and biographies. The fiction is usually thriller, psychological drama, detective stories, some sci-fi/fantasy and historical fiction. I like gritty fast paced stories that are not too easy to figure out. I love books with surprise endings especially ones that make me wonder what?!
I have several projects on my to-do list. And I plan to do them. Every night I tell myself tomorrow I will do this or that project. When I wake up and tomorrow is now today, I begin. I read the paper, do my puzzles, have something to eat, shower and get dressed, talk to the cats, take a walk, check my email, read blogs and sometimes comment. Then there are those bothersome little housekeeping chores that have to be done…vacuuming, dusting, dishes, bathrooms, laundry. Of course, those things get done I’m not a slob!
It’s just the project stuff I have a problem with. Like the closets and drawers. No one sees inside the closets and drawers. Just me. Sometimes I think about the people who will come in to clear everything out when I die. What will they think? Then I get real. I will be dead! What do I care what they think!
Well, I have written this post and I have thought about which project to do.
But first, I am going to begin reading a new book .
I’ve learned that people will forget what you said,
people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou
Friday I went to get my COVID vaccine. I had an appointment but I expected to have to wait and had accepted that fact. The articles in the paper made it sound like getting the vaccine was unpleasant and took hours. Wrong!
I walked in to the building, followed the signs, and checked in. No lines. A woman asked me a couple of questions, I signed a paper and was told to see the man in a blue jacket. He told me to please sit in chair #5. I walked over to the chair and before I could sit down he came over and said someone was ready to see me. He showed me over to a table and introduced me to the nurse. She asked a few questions, gave me the shot and a card noting the day and time and what the injection was. Then she told me I could make an appointment for the second vaccination at another table. I went there and made the appointment and was told to go to the back of the room and sit for 20 minutes and if I felt okay and wasn’t having any side affects I could go. I left in 20 minutes feeling fine.
I was there less than an hour, maybe in part because I filled out the paperwork on line the day I made the appointment. But the best part was the people. Everyone I interacted with was smiling and friendly and they seemed to be genuinely happy to see me. They took their time. They answered questions. I never felt rushed or that I was just a thing they had to take care of and be done with. All the clerks, aides, and nurses were happy people and that made me a happier person.
Maya Angelou was right.
I will always remember the people at the site
and how happy they were and how that made me feel;
happy to be there and to be me.
Perhaps the most radical act of resistance
in the face of adversity is to live joyfully.
Ari Honarvar
How we handle adversity says a lot about who and what we are. Life is not always easy or pleasant. Bad, even horrible things sometimes happen. There are times and events that happen that hurt deeply and leave scars that will remind us of the trials and sorrows forever. What we do and don’t do during and after the hurt determines how we live, how we continue our journey.
When we live joyfully, the less than perfect circumstances and situations that we face are not as bad as they could be. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness comes and goes. Yes, it feels so good when we are in that moment. But that moment is just that, a brief time of feeling special and good and well and happy, it isn’t lasting. Oh, there are fond memories of happiness and it is good to remember those times and happenings. Without the memories of happiness life would be small and trivial.
But joy is not dependent on what is or is not happening. It is a state of being that resides in the heart. It is a warmth that cannot be cooled by the day to day business of life. It is a strength that cannot be weakened by an adversary no matter how big or threatening. It is a knowing that doesn’t allow lies or false beliefs to become truth.
Joy is within all of us. It is not loud and bossy fighting to be felt or heard. It waits for us to acknowledge it, to welcome it, to be thankful, and allow it to do its work in us. Once we begin joyfully living no one can take it away from us. There are those who will try to take it away, even the devil will try. But once we claim that joy it’s ours forever.
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Attitude is a little thing that
makes a big difference.
Winston Churchill
Yesterday was not great.
It was a sort of nothing day.
Everything was just blah.
Nothing made happy.
Netflix was not interesting.
The book I was reading was sad.
I didn’t go for a walk.
I didn’t talk to anyone.
I took a long nap.
Woke up with a headache.
Not my usual positive self.
My attitude was ugly.
Today all is back to normal.
The sunshine is bright.
The clouds are white and wispy.
Walking was a delight.
Looking forward to starting a new book.
Netflix has a new season of a series I like.
Making brownies to share.
No need for a nap.
Back to my normal self.
My attitude is as usual.
Happy!
Have no idea what brought on the ugly blahs yesterday.
Just very glad they are gone!
I don’t know how always negative people survive.
I would not want to live in a constant negative state.
Very thankful that I don’t!
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Patricia's Place 
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