Chapter 3, Page31, Book 20

I can walk the line, if it ain’t too straight. 

Joe Diffie

March 31st - give me some slack

On the straight and narrow path, there are simply no corners to be cut.

Neil. A. Maxwell

Walking the path we are all on these days is to keep a safe distance from each other and let me tell you that is no small matter for me.  I love my family and friends and being apart so long is leaving it’s mark on me.  I long for a big bear hug from anyone and I’m so much in envy of anyone that has  people they live with that they can spend time with.  I’m home alone all the time.  

Being on the straight and narrow path has never been so difficult before.  It’s a trying situation but I’m not about to bend the line.  I want to keep safe and be safe for others too.  So I continue to walk the line.

Just put one foot in front of the other.

Austin Peck

Chapter 3, Page 30, Book 20

We all have possibilities we don’t know about.

We can do things we don’t even dream we can do.

Dale Carnegie

March 30th - see the possibilities

Take your mind off the problems for a moment, and focus on the positive possibilities.  Consider how very much you are able to do.

Ralph Marston

If we could look at what we might do instead of what we’re certain we can’t, we’d discover something that might be an alternative possibility.  One might say that we are what we think we are.  

Our lives are filled with endless possibilities .  We just have to open our minds to see them.  This means making smart choices.  For instance we can choose to act or react or sit by and watch life pass us by.  

In everything we do every day we have a choice to make.  

Why not choose to be great?  Why not open your eyes to the endless possibilities that exist when you make a commitment to live the life of your dreams.

To find ideas that matter and share them.  To push ourselves to demonstrate gratitude, insight, and inspiration.  To make the world a better place by being amazing!  The possibilities are really endless !

Stop thinking in terms of limitations and start thinking in terms of possibllities. 

Terry Josephson

Chapter 3, Page 29, Book 20

Nothing is as painful to the human mind as a great sudden change

Mary Shelley

March 29th - be the change you want to see

Change is inevitable.

Change is constant

Benjamin Disraeli

Our world has been hit with the biggest change in our lifetime.  Nothing compares.  Still life goes on and we must cope with what has happened.  We never get used to it and get caught up in fighting it, so much so that we put off dealing with it.

The more change that is happening the more important it is to stick to your regular schedule as much as possible.  Having some things that stay the same like walking the dog every morning gives us an anchor.

It helps to write down your routine and check it off as you go.  One less thing for your brain to have to hold inside.

When change happens we tend to reach for comfort foods.  breads, muffins, cakes etc.  It’s ok in moderation, but we need to remember to eat healthy foods to stay as healthy as possible. I’ve learned that when we get stressed out is when we tend to get sick.

Keeping up with regular exercise is also important.  Exercising two or three times a week has been found to decrease symptoms of depression.  Even just walking around the block can help you feel better. 

Try to look on the bright side and see if the change has had any positive effects in your life, even if its to proritize what is most important in your life.  Change helps us to grow and and it’s important to acknowledge how things have become better as a result..

I’ve learned to appreciate things I’ve never really thought important before.  Never again will I complain about grocery shopping..  Who could have believed that we’d be forced to change our lives around in a matter of a few short weeks. 

If you want to change attitudes, start with a change in behavior.

Katherine Hepburn

Chapter 3, Page 28, Book 20

I love those who can smile in trouble.

Leonardo da Vinci

March 27th - Smile, you’ll be happy you did!

It only takes a split second to smile and forget, yet to someone that needed it, it can last  lifetime.

Steve Maraboli

I want you to know that your smile, your kind words, and blog posts keep me going more days than I can count.  Every day is an unpredictable and challenging.  but remember that to face the reality of COVID 19, put your SMILE  on every day.

Never forget, even through the toughest of times, you re incredible, you really are. So smile more often .  We have so many reasons to do so.  Time and again, my reason is you. In this day of social distancing we bloggers can stick together and smile at each other.

Nobody has it easy and everybody has issues.  We never know exact what others are going through.  We are all fighting our own battles. But we are all fighting through it together.  

Remember courage doesn’t always roar aloud.  Sometimes it’s the quiet voice at the end of the day, I will try my best again tomorrow.  So stay strong.  Things turn out the best for people that make the best of the way things turn out.

Lets ease our worried minds by tuning out the excess noise in our heads for a little while every day.  It’s the perfect time to slow down and take our minds off all the wrong things and find some much needed inner peace.

My goal is not to get get rid of all the negative thoughts, feelings and present life circumstances.  Doing so is impossible.  My goal is to change my response to them.  I can’t control every thing that goes on around me but I can control my attitude.  I am the one who gets to decide how I’m going to get through this and today I’m going to smile more!

Smiling has many positive effects on our brains, bodies and the people around us.  It can make you feel better, make you more attractive and you can make the world a better place just by smiling more often.

Not only can smiling lift your mood, but it can also elevate the mood of those around you.

A warm smile is the universal language of kindness. 

William Arthur Ward

Chapter 3, Pagae 27, Book 20

Your greatness is not what you have, it’s what you give

Alice Hocker

March 27th - give what you can

It’s not how much we give, but how much love we put into the giving.

Mother Teresa

Giving is the key to success, fulfillment, prosperity, and a life of prosperity.  The world needs more people thot go in to the world and give their all to aid the betterment of society.  People need to stand up and start adding value to others lives by being of service and living selflessly.  

To take life to a new level by being of service to the millions who need help. You shall get what you give.  The good you put out in th world will return to you in abundance.  If you help someone you help yourself, because what you give is what you get.

We make a living by what we get; but we make a life by what we give.

Winston Churchill

Chapter 3, Page 26, Book 20

Some old fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are had to beat.

Laura Ingalls Wilder

March 26th -  a walk in the park  

Red, my walking companion

I love the feeling of fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my hair.

Evil Knievel

Where I live is considered a mobil home park.  So, since we had the first nice day in quite a while I went for a walk with my new friend, Red.  Red was a gift for Christmas and this is the first long walk she’s been on.  I can tell we are going to be great friends and will be going on many walks together in the future. 

It’s not that I  can’t walk on my own, but I cannot go for any length of time and needed some help, so the kids decided I needed a friend to help me out.  

I walked for about 1/2 hour and really enjoyed being out about.  It cleared my head and gave me some much needed exercise.  As you can see, nothing much is growing here in northern Ohio.  The only sign of spring I saw was a pussy willow tree turning green in back of someone’s home.  They are one of the first signs of spring here .  

I didn’t see many people out but that is not unusuall.  A few neighbors were on their porch and they were conversing with the people on the street.  A man was in his driveway working on something and a boy was out bouncing his basketball around.  I didn’t see any signs of a hoop. I went as far as the lake to see if any geese were around,  It was all quiet there 

Fresh air is as good for the mind as for the body.  Nature always seems trying to talk to us as if she had some great secret to tell . And so she has.

John Lubbock

Back home again

I believe  in the hands that work, in the brains that think and the hearts that love…I believe in sunshine, fresh air, friendship, calm sleep, beautiful thoughts.

Ellbert Hubbard

Chapter 3, Page 25, Book 20

Sometimes you have to sacrifice what you want for something more important.

Author Unknown

March 25th - let it go 

Life is so hard, how can we be anything but kind?

Sylvia Boorstein

It’s so true we must sacrifice short term pleasure for long term success.  These days we are sacrificing our get togethers and keeping our distance so that in the long term we will be able to be together again.

Success takes sacrifice.

Anonymous

We all want success in life, not just at times like this and the more we want it, the more we must sacrifice.  These are hard times and we want to get through them, so we sacrifice.There’s no doubt I’d love to see my family, but right now it’s worth it not seeing them, I want to make sure we’re all safe and not sorry.My kindness to them right now is to stay put, right here at home.They are doing the same for me.

We need to let go of what is desired in  order to succeed.

To give anything anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift

Steve Prefontaine

Chapter 3, Page 24, Book 20

Gratitude turns what we have into enough.

Melody Beattie 

March 24th-  be thankful 

Gratitude helps you see what is there , instead of what isn’t.

Author unknown

We could always have more, but we could also have less.  Always be grateful for what you have for some people have nothing at all.  Life isn’t about how much you can acquire to look good.  Life is bout being happy  with what you have and you’ll always have more.

Be grateful for everything that puts a smile on your face - from the bed that you sleep in to the person that keeps you company through your struggles to the toothbrush to clean your teeth.  There is always something to be grateful for.

The most beautiful aspect about being grateful is looking at all that you have that many others don’t and being genuinely thankful for everything that you life is composed of.  By Doing that you are inviting more to ge grateful for into your life.

As we express our gratitude we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.

John F. Kennedy

Chapter 3, Page 23, Book 20

There are no guarantees .  From the viewpoint of fear, none are strong enough.  From the view point of love, none are necessary

Emmanuel Teney

March 23rd- give love not fear

The U. S; Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, but  the pursuit of it  You have to catch up with it for yourself.

Benjamin Franklin

In life there are no guarantees, only opportunities and what we do with them. Seize the moment and embrace the opportunity..  You will be grateful you did.

On the surface love is a positive emotion that fosters a connection between people whether they are parents, lovers, friends, or family of any kind.  Fear on the other had does the exact opposite.  When we fear someone or something, we want to do anything other than connect with the feared person or object.

The choice to reject fear and choose love can feel like something that only applies to moments of crisis, when we’re leaving a marriage, starting a new business, preparing to climb Mt. Everest.  But in truth the opportunity to choose love and reject fear presents itself in the smallest moments of life, and specifically in relationships with those closest to us. Love over fear is a choice every time we tell someone something about ourselves or have an experience of us that we don’t want to hear.

When we feel emotionally attacked, blamed or criticized in someway we experience fear, Our identity is threatened. As a result we react from a place of fear. 

If we want to choose love over fear as a life practice we don’t have to wait for a crisis situation, we can simply use the opportunity presented .  We need to do our best to actually hear what the other person is saying without defending our version of who we are or what we think.  Operating from love is to set our own ego aside long enough to experience the other, to be courageous enough to listen and try to understand what others are experiencing, no matter how different it is from what we intended, to have the strength of heart to understand and open our heart to what it is that others are trying to express. Not blaming but be willing to to have courage enough to open our heart and be love even when we’re screaming fear. When you don’t choose love you are choosing fear.  We can’t feel both at the same time. We must continuously choose love and drive fear away in order to nourish our souls, just as we need to eat to nourish our bodies and drive away hunger

Love versus fear

Love is unconditional , fear is conditional

Love is strong, fear is weak

Love releases, fear obligates

Love surrenders, fear binds

Love is honest, fear suspects

Love allows, fear dictates

Love gives, ver resists

:Love forgives, fear blames

Love is compassionate, fear pities

Love chooses, fear avoids

Love is kind, fear is angry

Love embraces, fear repudiates

Love creates, fear negates

Love heals, fear hurts

Love is magic, fear is superstitious

Love energizes, fear saps

Love is an elixir, fear is poison

Love inspires, fear worries

Love desires, fear is Jealous 

Love is Patient , fear is nervous

Love is brave, fear is afraid

Love is relaxed, fear is pressured

Love is blind, fear is judgmental

Love respects, fear disregards

Love accepts, fear rejects

Love dreams, fear schemes

Love wants to play, fear needs control

Love enjoys, fear suffers

Love frees, fear imprisons

Love believes, fear deceives

Love ants, fer needs

Love versus fear: what do you feel?

I choose love every time, not fear.

Love means to commit yourself without guarantee.

Anne Campbell

Chapter 3, Page 22, Book 20

Alone we can do so little ; together we can do so much..

Helen Keller

March 23rd- you are not alone

The second you make it all about you. is the second you’ve already lost.

Chris Hill 

These days we are being told to keep our social distance so the in the future we can be together.  That means all us, not just the ones that are sick.  There are some that for one reason or another think they are exempt from this , but the fact is that we’re all in this together.  What is good for one is good for the other.  Staying away from others is the rule  right now unless it is a necessity. 

We are not alone, we’re all going through the same things.  And in our togetherness, we can cope with the isolation and learn from it.

Once this is over we’ll never  again take for granted what we have.  

Easter is coming and for me that means that we probably won’t be getting together for our family Easter dinner and egg hunt, but I bought my Easter candy as usual.  This is not going to last forever and when we get the all clear, there is going to be one huge celebration.  We live in hope.

Alone we are only as powerful as we try o be, together the power is multiplied and radiated throughout the entire group.  Alone we can only do so much as an individual but together we can accomplish feats we did not even know we’re possible.  So lets all work together to defeat this terrible time of pandemonia   We can  do so much when we work together. 

By ourselves we are nothing special .  We all have our weaknesses and strengths. When we put our strengths together, we become a member of a team .  The purpose of a team is to complement each other.so they become stronger. 

Remember to keep your distance, don’t go out unless you have to, and wash your hands. We are all in this together.  You are not alone.

Only by binding together as a single force will we remain strong and unconquerable. 

Chris Bradford