Chapter 1, Page 31, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

GROW through what you GO through

January 31st - end of one month beginning another

Spring, summer, and fall fill us with hope; winter alone reminds us of the human condition.

 Mignon McLaughlin  

January brought all kinds of new beginnings here at my house.  I learned to begin again without some of the people in my life that meant so much to me.  A dear sister, an aunt and a friend passed away and learning to live without them meant a new beginning.

January weather began with  unusually warm days for us.  No snow for the kids to play in and muddy yards for the dogs to run in left some more than a little unsettled. Not me, I enjoyed the milder weather and no snow to shovel.  Not to worry though we now have plenty of snow and the ground is frozen again.

Keep your faith in beautiful things;
in the sun when it is hidden,
in the Spring when it is gone.

Roy R. Gibson  

January also brought a chance for me to realize just how much I need to rely on God.  To give him all glory and honor, to believe that He is really in control of things.  Not me. Thats for sure. And I’m thankful I’m not the one who’s got control of the universe.   My oldest son has been in the hospital since last Thursday and due to being there over the weekend, test results have been slow in coming back.  The unknown is very scary.  His situation is a tricky one and we are praying for a good treatment to be found to fix what’s wrong and hoping for a cure.

Every mile is two in winter.

George Herbert

My house has been up for sale since the middle of December but so far no interest has been shown at all. The sorting out and packing up for a move has reached the point of fine tuning.

Finding a place to move to has been fruitful and I’m assured there will be a place for me when I choose to move.  I really have to wait until the house is sold to do that. 

There is not a doubt in my mind but what February will be full of more new beginnings and I’ll be sharing them and more random thoughts as they happen.  

Sometimes in our lives it is just winter. Sometimes the gray gloom of this world piles on the problems and troubles. Sometimes life feels both cold and bitter. Sometimes it is very hard to see the light.  It is times like these when that we most need to shine our own light, share our own love, and let ourselves fly. It isn’t always easy and often takes effort, but with Heaven’s help it can be done.

 Joseph Mazzella

I’m hoping you all have a blessed and happy last day of January ! From now on…I’m moving forward, one day at a time.

‘ma'

Chapter 1, Page 30, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

You Will Never Be Sorry...

...for thinking before acting.

...for hearing before judging.

...for forgiving your enemies.

...for being candid and frank.

...for helping a fallen brother.

..for being honest in business.

...for thinking before speaking.

...for being loyal to your church.

...for standing by your principles.

...for closing your ears to gossip.

...for bridling a slanderous tongue.

...for harboring pure thoughts.

...for sympathizing with the afflicted.

...for being courteous and kind to all.

Author Unknown

January 30th - be there, be you, be present

Don't let what you cannot do
interfere with what you can do.

John Wooden

Our presence in the lives of others can make a difference.  If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time you probably know that I have a large family scattered near and far.  It’s hard for me to be  physically there for them most of the time.  But I take heart because I know that whether or not our loved ones are close by or far aways, they remain close as we keep them in our hearts.

Presence is more than just being there. 

Malcolm Forbes

No matter what, I’m there for them and I know that even though they are far away, they are there for me. But it’s nice to show people you care so they don’t think we have forgotten or are taking for granted so that they know and that’s all that matters.  I’ve also discovered that when you offer positive words to someone else, when you give someone a needed emotional boost, you yourself are uplifted.

Just being present, sharing a kind word, and praying with them in turn renews my strength.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.  

Leo Buscaglia

Chapter 1, Page 29, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

Where there is faith, there is love;
Where there is love, there is peace;
Where there is peace, there is God;
And where there is God; there is no need.

Leo Tolstoy

January 29th - new beginnings, a journey faith

All depends on faith

Roman 4:16

To say that my faith is being tested these days would be an understatement.  To have faith, we have to both ask for it and then put it into practice. Like many gifts we receive, a new appliance, a new computer, or a new phone, it won’t do us much good unless we learn how to use it.

Faith a Means to a New Beginning

Acts 6:8-15

All of us have times when we are confused. We don’t know where to go. We fear what lies ahead of us. At times like that, we can put our faith into practice by continuing on the path before us. And as we move forward, our stride will become more confident, and our view will become clearer.

Faith goes
up the stairs
love has built
and looks out the window
which hope has opened...

Charles Spurgeon

It’s not always easy to walk in faith, but as we take one step and then another and then another, we’ll find our faith growing stronger. 

Faith doesn’t make thing easy it makes them possible

Faith is powerful when it is placed in the right perspective regardless of how small the faith of the individual.  If my faith is limited to what I can conceive, then it is limited to only what I can see. True faith takes us beyond what we can see and at times even believe. 

Faith is confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see.

Hebrews 11:1

Chapter 1, Page 28, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

Prepare yourself for the world, as the athletes used to do for their exercise; oil your mind and your manners, to give them the necessary suppleness and flexibility; strength alone will not do.

Lord Chesterfield

January 29th - gratitude can help you through tough times

Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.

Tom Robbins 

Some people are more flexible in their thinking and the way they do things. They seem to flow through changes quite easily and effortlessly whereas for others it can be extremely challenging.

That’s the way it is with me right now… very challenging.  Just about the time I thought I had a handle on things, life became a little tougher here at my house.

But I have found that not only will a grateful attitude help when times are tough, it is essential. It is precisely under challenging conditions when we have the most to gain by a grateful perspective on life

 In the face of brokenness, gratitude has the power to heal. In the face of despair, gratitude has the power to bring hope. In other words, gratitude can help us cope with tough times.

Gratitude can be chosen in spite of one’s situation or circumstances.

Learning to live and love when life gets tough is part of the new beginnings I’m facing this year. Thankfully, I’ve got the best help available.  The dear Lord is by my side through it all. I’m grateful I’m not in this alone.  It’s a new beginning for me and flexibility means I am willing to learn as I go.

Seeds of discouragement will not grow in the thankful heart.

Anonymous

Chapter 1, Page 27, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

Fear not, for I am with you

Isaiah 43:5

January 28th -  Hope and Trust in our Time

You and I are not what we eat; we are what we think. 

Walter Anderson, 

Thanks to technological progress, we have access to media which makes it possible for countless people to share news instantly and spread it widely. That news may be good or bad, true or false. 

The human mind has been compared to a constantly grinding millstone; it is up to the miller to determine what it will grind: good wheat or worthless weeds. Our minds are always grinding, but it is up to us to choose what to feed them.  Believe it or not, what you put into your mind has a bigger impact on your well being than you think.

Life is not simply a bare succession of events, but a history, a story waiting to be told through the choice of a lens that we can select and gather the most relevant data.  Everything depends on the way we look at things, on the lens we use to view them. If we change that lens, reality itself differs.With that said,  I think we need to be cautious with what you feed your mind and soul.  

When the soul is full of peace and joy, outward surroundings and circumstances are of comparatively little account. 

Hannah Whitall Smith

To nourish our minds to feed our souls because it will influence our lives, our actions, and our destiny, we need to monitor our exposure to the media of things that we watch, listen to, or believe in, and we need to stay on guard. A lot of the things we are exposed to each day are not wholesome or good for us to see. But every day we may find these kinds of bad experiences infiltrating our lives and hard to avoid. When we watch or listen to the news comes to mind, and we need to be aware of the desensitizing effect these things have on us

We are going to become what we feed ourselves, or what we allow to come into our lives.

Live carefully. The soul you save may be your own. 

Virginia Chase

Chapter 1, Page 26, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

Have you been changed by grace? Shaped by grace? Strengthened by grace? Softened by grace? God’s grace has a drenching about it. A wildness about it. Grace comes after you! From insecure to God secure. From afraid to die to ready to fly. Grace is the word that calls us to change and then gives us the power to pull it off!

From God’s With You Every Day, by Max Lucado

January 26th - With a little help, I’m doing my best and being my best in all situations

Just when the caterpillar thought her life was over, she began to fly.

Author Unknown 

New beginnings are a time for a change of heart, a change of feeling, of way of acting, and a different way of looking at things. I try to remember that if I don’t try, I will never know what I am capable of achieving.  In having the courage to do my best. I am willing to learn as I go.

Every problem has a solution, and every goal contains a way to achieve it. So I'm prepared for positive results. Trusting  that I will have all that I need in the right and perfect time, I can begin again in absolute faith and positive anticipation.  And sometimes that solution starts with simply changing your answers from, I HAVE to,  to I GET to.

Every change brings a new beginning.

Chapter 1, Page 25, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

Take your life in your own hands and what happens? A terrible thing: no one is to blame. 

Erica Jong

January 25th - no blame

Don’t blame others when something goes wrong. Don’t blame yourself endlessly, either. Just find ways to do it differently next time. 

 Karin Ireland

It is a waste of time trying to place blame.  We could put that time to better use. If you’ve made a mistake, just move on and try to correct and remember what happened so you don’t do it again.  

Beginning again isn’t easy, but builds hope for the future and puts the past where it belongs.  New beginnings means that we find different ways of doing things.  What was left behind didn’t work, so different means are needed to carry us forward.

From now on…my life is going to be filled to over flowing with new happenings, a new way of doing things and a new way of looking at life.

Looking at life anew will bring some unsettling times, times of peace and times of challenge.  I’m open and ready to embrace them.

We shouldn't place blame where no one is at fault, but we can start new every morning.

Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.

John F. Kennedy

Chapter 1, Page 24, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

What I value in life is quality rather then quantity.

 Albert Einstein 

January 24th - quality versus quantity

Don’t use a lot where a little will do.

Proverb

At this point in my life I’ve learned that quality of life is far better than quantity of life.

More and more though, I see people desiring just the opposite.  Wanting more and enjoying it less.  I cannot for the life of me get their reasoning behind it.  What good is having more things, if you cannot enjoy them.

Choosing quality over quantity consistently makes me happier.  Having stuff means maintaining stuff.   I now have much less than I did and plan to have even less than I do now and I’m a happy camper.  For years, I had the job of decluttering hanging over me.  It was one task that I was eager to get rid of.  I was not eager to embrace the reasons behind what caused this major change in plans, but I’m thankful I now own a lot less stuff.

Choosing quality over quantity means  spending as much of your time as possible doing what makes you happy.   It seems that it’s quantity that is consistently rewarded in our society. More money, more bedrooms, more horsepower, more years, more accomplishments. We have been conditioned to strive for more.  But time and time again, I’ve found that more does not bring happiness.

The truth of the matter is that we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years.

There is a lot of joy to be had in having just enough.

We don’t need to increase our goods nearly as much as we need to scale down our wants. Not wanting something is as good as possessing it.

Donald Horban

Chapter 1, Page 22 and 23, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome. 

William James

January 22nd/23rd - opportunities are there if we look for them.

In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity. 

Albert Einstein

Once discovered, such opportunities are like valuable diamonds hidden in the sand. 

Every aspect of my life is changing, so I’ve decided to stay focused on what reminds me that all will be well and make the most of every situation.  To remember that difficulties are opportunities to better things.  

I’ve learned that you don’t dwell on everything you think your life lacks. Instead, you pay attention to what’s going right.  We don’t have to live in the shadow of what could have been if we shine a light on what’s working to allow it to grow.

They say that to keep balance in your life, we should do something for our mind, body, and soul every day and do something that will make today better than what’s come before. Remembering to look at all the possibilities. When we’re worried, we tend to see only a few paths out of a challenge.

Every great and deep difficulty bears in itself its own solution. It forces us to change our thinking in order to find it. 

Neils Bohr

It’s very important to remember that time passes and things change. Always. The only constant is that the sun will rise each morning. When we face challenges in our life, we need to be grateful for them. Each challenge you face will teach you more about yourself and make you a better person.

Opportunities come brilliantly disguised as problems and challenges.

When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it's going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming. 

Author Unknown

Chapter 1, Page 21, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now.

Alan Lakein

January 21st - action plans

Plans get you into things but you must work your way out.

Will Rogers

Any 

Change 

Toward 

Improving 

One’s 

Nature

Taking action isn’t always easy but to be to be successful at anything you must take action even when you don't feel like it.  Too many of us wait for things to be perfectly aligned before we take action.  We wait for the perfect time to get married. The perfect time to own a home. The right time to have children. The right time to start a business. The right time to take a family vacation. The right time to make a business decision. The right time to visit old friends. Even the right time to apologize. 

In reality, there is no perfect time. Nothing will ever be perfect, so don’t wait for perfection before taking action. It’s good to think, research, plan, but then take action.

Many times we fail to take action because we manufacture excuses.  We need to learn to live by choice, not by chance.  Make changes, not excuses.  Be motivated, not manipulated.  Work to excel, not compete.  

We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. 

Frank Tibolt

Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad.  It just depends on your perspective.  And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should.  When you feel hopeless or helpless, taking action helps.

If you have accomplished all that you have planned for yourself, you have not planned enough.

Edward Everett Hale

Chapter 1, Page 20, Book 17

♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and start all over again♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪ 

With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. 

Eleanor Roosevelt

January 20th - today is another new beginning

Getting your house in order and reducing the confusion gives you more control over your life. Personal organization some how releases or frees you to operate more effectively. 

Larry King

As the new year beings it’s time to get rid of the clutter and our homes and in our minds.  When we stop revisiting the past, we can achieve a blessed freedom of mind and spirit. Releasing the resentments and discouraging memories opens the way for new experiences. You might even know what that feels like. Life isn’t a walk in the park. There are disappointments, betrayals, and losses in every corner of life. 

Like a free flowing stream that brings an ever renewing supply of fresh water, the act of release clears the way with a fresh inflow of energy.

 Man's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. 

Oliver Wendell Holmes 

When we move past hurt and disappointment and on to living life fully, we forgive ourselves  and all those involved. We become new persons with a fresh, positive outlook.

I’m getting my house in order and clearing out the clutter, making way for new opportunities.

Remember those 3 words…from now on.

Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life. What is it you would let go of today? 

Mary Manin Morrissey