family · Inspirational · Uncategorized

I Choose Today

person-598191_960_720Good Morning Sunshines! “Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place.” ~ Author Unknown

The choices you make today will determine where you are tomorrow. I can not stress enough how today needs to be the day you make those changes. Think about the day you first thought about making a change. Where would you be now if you would have followed through?

Today is the day! Today is the day you take charge of your own life. Today is the day you stop believing the lies that were spoken over you. Today is the day you say no more! Today is the day you stop being a victim and start becoming victorious. Today is the day you choose happiness and joy. Today is the day you start believing in your self. Today is the day you start appreciating every day as a gift and stop taking life for granted. Today is the day you start working toward your goals and dreams.

Today I am making some changes that I wish I would have made a few years ago. For me, I have taken my health for granted and I can’t do it anymore. What is it that you need to take hold of today and say, “No More!”. I challenge you today to look at your life and say, “I’m ready to make a change and I will Find The Good In My Choices!”

family · Inspirational · technoligy · Uncategorized

Put it down!

Group of friends at a restaurant with all people on the table ocGood Morning Sunshines! “So that’s the telephone? They ring, and you run.” ~Edgar Degas

Microwave Society ~The mindset of wanting (and nearly getting) everything “RIGHT NOW”. Technology has made gathering or sending information extremely fast and we’ve begun to think that everything in life should be available on demand.

One night my hubby and I were out to dinner and at the table across the way we saw a couple sitting together. He was reading a paper, she was sitting waiting for conversation. I told Matt, “I never want to be like that.” Let’s fast forward 12 years…. I’m sitting at table with a friend yesterday and as we are talking they get a text. I am literally in the middle of game planning with them about something we are working on and they pick up their phone and start to read their text. A few things hit me in my gut at this time….

  1. Am I not worthy of your time?
  2. Is there something else you’d rather be doing?
  3. You are so rude because it was a group text, I got it too but didn’t stop to read it!
  4. Maybe we should talk business at another time when you can focus on our conversation.
  5. Would you do this if you were talking to someone else?

I know I have been guilty of this myself from time to time when sitting with a friend, but I vowed right then to never do that again. I never carry a purse so the phone does end up on the table and I do let people know if I am expecting an important call or something that is time sensitive that I will need to address as soon as it comes in. However, I have never in the middle of a meeting picked up my phone. I say all that to say, where did our manners go? Giving someone our full attention should not be that hard. I feel that we have gotten so comfortable with being a microwave society that we don’t even realize how rude we have become. I am going to make it a point to not do this anymore. We went years without cell phones and the world did not fall apart because we didn’t answer a phone call, text, email, right away. I think we would be less stressed out if we start setting boundaries to our phones/life. We need to put more focus on human interaction and less into technology, at least when we are sitting with people. I know I want to make that person who is speaking to me feel like they are important and I value their time. I challenge you to put down the phone, talk to someone and Find The Good In Genuine Interaction.

family · Inspirational · Uncategorized

Boss vs Leader

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Good Morning Sunshines! “People ask the difference between a leader and a boss. The leader leads, and the boss drives.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

I was at a local coffee shop the other day and was listening to the conversation at the next table as they complained about their new boss. One of the girls was a manager at the company and the other was being trained for another store. However, the training wasn’t going well because “the boss” didn’t know how to train/teach, she was a micromanager. Instead of equipping these young ladies with the skills they needed to learn in order to lead, she preferred to give them tasks that she needed to make sure were being completed. This made me cringe. I know people like this. At one point I may have even been that boss. It usually comes from a place of not wanting others to succeed, or worried they will take your place, when actually what will happen is people will see your ability to have people follow you and learn from you and you will be given praise for that.

Through the years I have learned that teaching someone to take your job opens you up for promotion. Let’s break it down even more simply, we teach our kids how to do laundry, do dishes, vacuum the house, etc. Yes, we will continue to make sure for some time they are doing these properly, but one day you no longer have to micromanage them. They have learned this skill and one day will be able to pass the knowledge on. As a boss/leader it is the same thing. Once you can let go and allow others to take ownership of their job/responsibilities, it then opens you up to do other things. If you are in any type of leadership role, I challenge you to teach people instead of just being a micromanager. Allow for mistakes and use those as teachable moments. I know the people you work with will then Find The Good In You.

family · Inspirational · Uncategorized

Who Are You?

986471BF-BB1D-430F-BAA3-B1F96073FA84Good Morning Sunshines! I’m back! My daughter is married! The wedding was amazing and I have recovered. I’m looking forward to talking with all of you again.

We are all created to be individuals. So why do we compare ourselves to others? How boring would the world be if we all looked and acted the same? In my 20’s and early 30’s I really did compare myself a lot to my friends, the women I’d pass on the street, and even people I saw in the movies. I was never satisfied with my clothing size, the “things” I could do (because I wanted to be gifted or talented like others) even my personality. I wished I was different. I have a loud laugh and I’m very animated. I tried not to overdo it around most people, worried they won’t accept me for who I really am.

I’m not sure when the mindset change was, but I do remember reading…..

“Why fit in when you were born to stand out?” ~ Dr. Seuss

Such wise words! I was about 35 when I decided I would live my life out loud. I have a lot to say. I really have gone through a lot and I believe our tests are our testimonies, so I decided I would start liking those things I wanted to change. I started caring less and less about other people’s opinion about what I was doing in my life. I remember the first time I put down a book I had started reading and said to my self, “I am not enjoying this, I’m not going to read it.” That was huge for me. I have walked out of movies, left restaurants and even stopped hanging around people who were no longer bringing happiness to my life. I no longer had the need for everyone’s approval because I now had my own. I know for some this can be hard in a world of “likes” and “friends”. My hope for you today is that you will, Find The Good In You.

family · Inspirational · Uncategorized

Banner Blindness

IMG_0241Hello Sunshines! “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ~Henry David Thoreau

How many of us ignore the ads that are on our social media these days? Crazy how we talk about something or look up something, but then we quickly start to ignore them again. This is banner blindness. But what about in our everyday life? Do we start to go blind too? Maybe not blind, but just don’t notice the change that’s happening. A friend gets a haircut, you don’t notice. The gas station you always go to changes names but you don’t notice. We get so caught up in our everyday life that we don’t stop and look around us and notice the changes that are happening in the world around us.

I have rose bushes outside my front door. Every day when I leave the house I will literally stop and smell the roses. I do that because when I was working 12 hour plus days I got so caught up in my work I forgot there was a world going on outside. One day I was going into work late, when I walked outside and noticed these beautiful roses. These rose bushes had been there as long as we had lived in the house, but I didn’t notice them because I would leave so early and come home late, my sights focused on my next task. But now when I leave my house and smell these roses, it reminds me to stop and notice the world around me. I don’t want to be blind to the world around me anymore. I want to notice not just the simple beautiful roses, but the people in need on the corner. I want to help others Find The Good In Their Life.

family · Inspirational · Uncategorized

It’s Not In The Budget

372D684A-5852-460C-B974-815D7AD432DB-40788-00000A7ED3A9B2F0Good Afternoon Sunshines! “The budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations.” ~ Jacob Lew

Have you ever said “It’s not in my budget,” or “I don’t have time for that?” I found out it’s never in my budget or I don’t have time for it if it’s not a priority to me. Our daughter’s wedding is coming up and the money we could have used a million other ways is being used to pay for a wedding because it is what is important to us. I pay for a gym membership because my health is important to me. I spend time reading books and listening to podcasts every day because growing and learning is important to me. However, I have had people tell me, “You should really watch this new show. It’s amazing!” The next time I see them they would ask, “What did you think?” To be honest, I haven’t had the time to watch it. Why didn’t I have I have the time? It’s because it wasn’t important to me. Not that my friend wasn’t important, it was that my time was important and I didn’t want to spend it on something that I was not sure I would enjoy.

Our time and resource are precious, and we need to be careful how we spend them. You will very rarely ever catch me doing something I really just don’t want to do; and if I am, it’s because the person I am with means more to me than that thing I am doing. When my kids were teenagers I stopped saying “It’s not in our budget,” and started telling them the truth, “That is not a priority.” As as example, they asked “Why don’t we have a tv and cable like my friends?” This truly was not, and still is not, a priority for us. Explaining to a teenager (and some adults) why we don’t have these things may be annoying, but I believe in being transparent about my life, so we would explain, “We don’t have time to sit in front of the tv, so why would we spend money on something we don’t use?” When I have asked my boss for a raise for an employee and he would say, “It’s not in the budget”, what I really wish he would have said was, “It’s not a priority,” because I would see money being spent in other places that to me was not a priority. I say ALL that to say this…. before you say it’s not in the budget or you don’t have time, be honest with yourself and others. Is this just not a priority? When you’re making the decision to spend your time or resources on something, make sure you ask yourself is it’s helping you Find The Good In Your Life.

Inspirational · Uncategorized

Letting Go

BC12CF28-D50A-4B10-B257-CCC41B166BDD-8482-0000022D0640346EI had a little challenge getting the post out this morning due to a sinus issue and a Benadryl…..But, it’s never too late to have a good day.

Good Morning Sunshines! “Why should you live in the past when the present already has everything that you need to start a new beginning?” ~ Edmond Mbiaka

Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s is much different than it is now. I remember the night a door-to-door salesman knocked on our door and told us about cassette tapes. He came in and my mom made coffee and got out a snack and we all sat in the living room playing with this new thing. He showed us how we could record and play it back. We talked into it and played it back. Hearing our own voices being played back was very strange. We bought a tape player and a six-pack of cassette tapes. I remember my step-brothers playing tricks on each other with it, whispering things into the recorder and hiding it under beds or in closets. In the 80’s my friends and I would sit and wait for that new song to come out so we could record it and make the perfect mixed tape. Who didn’t love getting a mixed tape? These days my kids make playlists and don’t have to hope the DJ doesn’t talk through the first part of the song.

There are so many memories that shape us into who we are today, good or bad. Sometimes we hold onto these things so much it will paralyze us in our present. It won’t allow us to move forward into what we are meant to be doing. I know it can be hard to let go of the past. Whether it’s living in the “glory days” of our youth or the pain that haunts our dreams/nightmares. There are days where I have to remind myself that I am not that little girl who was abandoned and not everyone will leave me. That I am loved. Yes, even I have insecurities, but I look at them differently now. I was once told, “You can never have a better past, but you can make a better future.” That is what I did with all the pain and hurt of the past. I decided to Find The Good In My Life. What do you need to let go of so you can have the future you deserve?

Inspirational · Uncategorized

It’s Ok To Fail

29D5AE28-5086-4D2B-B3D9-9BFE2B908452-19288-000004F87E8EAFFDGood Morning Sunshines! “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.”~ Henry Ford. “You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don’t try to forget the mistakes, but you don’t dwell on it. You don’t let it have any of your time, or any of your space.” ~ Johnny Cash. “I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” ~ Michael Jordan. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” ~ Thomas Edison. These are some of my favorite quotes about failing.

We all fail at something in life. For some, like me, it’s been more than a few. As my granddaughter was learning to walk, we were all cheering her on as she learned to stand, then take the first step, then another and another till she was cruising around the room. But what if she decided it was too hard and when she fell she didn’t get back up to try again? What if we did that? Their would be grown folk crawling around the world instead of walking because we gave up. How many things in life are you still crawling around because you are afraid to try walking again? That dream you put down because it seemed too big. The goals you set in 2017 that didn’t happen but you know are still calling your name. For my granddaughter she had people cheering her on, even when she fell down. Do you have people ready to cheer you on even when you fall? In 2018, find the people who are going to cheer you on and help you Find The Good In Your Life.

Inspirational · Uncategorized

The Hard Sell

IMG_4069Good Morning Sunshines! A positive mind finds opportunity in everything, while a negative mind finds fault in everything. Do you have those people in your life who like to poke holes in your excitement? They find fault and tell you why something won’t work when you are really excited about something? These people, the “Dream Stealers”, make me sad. Mostly because they once had a dream and they allowed someone to steal their dream. Most of the time I stay away from these people. However, when I need them most in my life is when I need to sell something. What do I mean by that? If I have a new business idea or just a pitch I need to make and I need to make sure I can sell this idea to the bank, a corporation, or just pitching a new idea to my hubby, I call on these people. I have my whole idea laid out including the comebacks I think they may come with. I am ready for them to find fault so that I can make my pitch to people who will hopefully be excited about my next idea. Sometimes we need the hard sell.

While I am one to tell you to guard yourself from negative people and “Dream Stealers”, you can always Find The Good, even in these types of people.