Smiling Your Way Through Christmas and New Years

It is so hard for some people to do this! This time of the year can bring on some very different attitudes. It took Scrooge his entire past, present and future to see that it isn't what you are seeing but how you're looking at it :).
Things are moving so fast sometimes we barely get a glimpse of the speeding train that hits us. Remember that you can't make memories if you don't remember them. Even the bad memories have some incredibly wonderful lessons in them!
Start the season out on the right foot! Make putting up the tree a family affair! This year I will not have family here so I helped a friend and her family with their tree. 
Take the time to reflect everyday on how great the day has REALLY been.. laugh at yourself and with others, briefly imagine how somethings could have come out differently, but don't dwell as they are done and in the can! Sleep, Eat, Laugh, Reflect, Regroup.... sometimes we get sooo busy we forget to do these 5 very crucial things! Are We Having Fun Yet? and sometimes we forget these five very important words.
I personally hate to shop! So in order to have fun with this I must partake in very short sessions between 2 fun things. Football, baking, dancing, and church  have been great for me for this :).   Today will be blogging and trivia with my friends with some last minute shopping in between!
Last minute gifts.. do not stress yourself out.. I stick with last minute staples: small bottles of your own favorite new perfume, favorite books that you have read this year, Craftsman tools, movie tickets, or of course you can just buy Visa gift cards they can use anywhere, these are good as extra gifts and if you don't use them as gifts you get to use them yourself.
Reward yourself for finishing tasks! A piece of chocolate, a glass of wine .... I chose time at the beach :).  For every task I finish, I add 10 minutes to time that I can spend at the beach. This could be time in the sauna, time in the bathtub, time toward a date with your spouse, minutes toward a massage.... something that you need to give yourself as a gift (a true reward)! For every dollar you spend, put away a dollar. This will keep you from the worry of how much you've spent and allow you to breathe when the rush is over. Don't just use the money on bills, put this away.. you can use some of it for your reward and not feel defeated when the wrapping is discarded.
Don't forget the importance of just spending time with people.. whether it be loved ones, friends, acquaintances or just volunteering to help strangers in need. We all need a little human touch.

Last but not least. New Year's Eve is just that!! It is a celebration of the coming new year and not a memorial for the one passing! If you don't have one, create your own ritual.. No matter where I am at midnight on New Year's Eve, I jump forward! I jump into the new year and leave the old one on the ground behind me :). I set forth resolutions that I know I can keep and use them to expand on throughout the year to constantly be looking forward and upward.
No matter where you are in your walk in life you are always and will always be a work in progress :) But with each passing year you get better at it. Again. Sleep, Eat, Laugh, Reflect, Regroup... Are We Having Fun Yet?

Action = Satisfaction!

It is difficult to see the mess when you are standing in the middle of it! It's even harder to figure out where to start! Some of us need to talk it out.. and this is ok as long as the person listening is receptive. Once you have formulated a solution and the steps needed to reach it, Take Action!!!
It is frustrating when a person complains about a problem and then works it out and does nothing! We are all guilty of this at some point in time in our lives!  Some of us just need to prep an outline and some need to have the entire process drawn out! It doesn't matter what it takes just find a solution and take the first step. Don't be afraid to fail because you can always reformulate and restart!

Learn From Everyone and Everything

Everyone knows something! God put us each on this great planet to interact with our surroundings and affect and be affected. Even within bad experiences there are lessons to learn. Sometimes we learn what not to do or how not to act or react! These can be the most powerful lessons and the hardest to swallow! Be careful what you ask God to teach you. He will send you very difficult lessons to teach you what you want to learn, and if you don't learn it the first time you may have to experience the lesson over and over until you get it! So learn from every experience so that you don't need to go through it again! Sometimes what we learn is so subtle we don't realize we learned it until we see it again and have an 'aha' moment. Sometimes we are the teachers and have no idea we are even on the syllabus.
Be willing to try new things! Expand your horizons. Allow others to experience the moments with you, you never know who the lesson is for or what your reward might be! Instead of running around trying to figure out what the meaning of life is... accept that the journey is the thing!
I believe we get points for learning and for sharing and teaching! Set up your own point system. Get the most points! Have fun! Learn from everyone and everything. Be Thankful for the opportunities to grow and to help others do the same :). Learn from someone else's mistakes as often as possible. It is easy to see both the good and the bad when you aren't in the middle of it all.
Most importantly, don't forget to apply the lessons! :)

Don't miss your blessings

What beautiful things do we miss every day? The laws of attraction tell us that what we give out is what we will receive back! When we give out a hug, a smile, a prayer, a compliment...... we receive them back. What a blessing! What awesome gifts! Reaching out and  just being nice... what a concept!!! :) It is so basic, yet people are so caught up in the mundane that they miss out on their blessings! They get up at the same time everyday, they take the same shower, do their hair the same way, brush their teeth, stop at their same coffee shop, even read the same bad news... all to prepare them to tackle the same problems and go to bed exhausted with the same headache! No Blessings :(.  I challenge you to set your clock a few minutes early.. take the time to read the Proverb of the day.. ( 31 Proverbs.. 31 days of the month!) When you do your hair and brush your teeth.. SMILE at yourself and say 'Today is a blessed day, I look a feel my very best, I get to spend the whole day with... ME, YAY!" Then find at least one person to pray for, to hug, to smile at, to compliment!! The feeling you get when they hug, smile, compliment, pray back is contagious! Today really is a blessed day and we get to affect people in such a positive way. Don't miss out on your blessings!

The difference in the ending is how you tell the story

In Cinderella, if the story was told from the perspective of the sisters it would have been totally different. Cinderella would have been portrayed as a gold digger who got a witch to change her appearance to sneak her way into a ball where she was trespassing and put some kind of spell on a prince to steal her way into is heart. It would have been a tragedy.. where they were left in despair and ruin.  If it were told from the perspective the wicked step mother, it would have been a story of a marriage and how she was left a widow and out of the kindness in her heart raised her poor step daughter and taught her work ethic and her place just to have her break the rules and run away with a prince and leave her with nothing. She probably would have called Cinderella things like ungrateful.
It is all in who tells the story and how they tell it.
My New Year's Resolution this year was NO DRAMA.  Now I didn't believe that I could have a year of no drama, but I knew that it was all in the story and how I looked at it and told it! I have had a lot of things happen in my life that could be considered as crazy. But I realized how this year has differed from others by how I look at things and tell the story.
Last weekend my ex-husband called me 17 times, during church, to tell me that our neighbor of 6 years, who was also my old bosses husband, had passed away the night before. When I called to find out what I could do I was told that he had passed under some crazy tragic circumstance. I offered my condolences and a place of sanctuary if their son just needed a reprieve.
Later that afternoon, I went to dinner with my best friend of 30+ years and her family. I was telling them about the tragedy that happened the night before involving my neighbor. My friend's brother looked at me and said, "Wow, all the crazy things seem to happen around you" I looked back and said, "I am just a supportive friend, this didn't happen to me!" I realized I was taking on the drama and that was not going to happen!
Up until New Year's Eve of last year I might have looked at this differently! I might have seen this as a prime opportunity to be the poster child of "As Linda's World Turns"  But now I don't accept that. As a matter of fact I am not claiming any drama this year! I can feel for others but not take it on myself! I am healing, becoming stronger. We all need to get to the point where we feel ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
Make YOU a priority! Help others when you can, but not at your own expense and don't set yourself up for a 'woe is me' moment! Share the story when you have worked out the positive!
Aren't you glad that we got to enjoy Cinderella's Happily Ever After?

Are you a bystander in your own life?

Lately I have encountered several people that seem to be watching their lives pass them by. Afraid to take chances they have settled into a hum drum existence. Not that I believe that a life full of drama is good either.. I just wonder if people realize that they are becoming drones.. worker ants?  I challenge you.. Go out.. commit a random act of kindness today! Find a risk and take it!! Put on your tennis shoes and walk your kids to school! Find a new group and join it! Go to a city council meeting! Sign up for a class.. pottery, computers, or even The Constitution Explained. Step outside yourself and help someone else and create a better you! Be assertive.. let the world know that this is your life and you are taking it back!

What is your Lip Gloss?

In my lifetime I have dealt with many powerful women! When you ride with these women you find that each of them does different things to prepare for a meeting. However, just about everyone polishes her preparation off with one last thing... they look in the mirror and put on their lip gloss. I have asked many of them if they felt they could go in without doing this and the answer was a resounding NO.  Now we know that the lip gloss manufacturers are not secretly putting courage or power in their products.. and we know that, other than the color, it really doesn't change anything about your looks. So what is it that gives that lip gloss so much power?  It is these strong, courageous, powerful women! Women see other powerful women doing the exact same thing and conclude that they must have THAT! They don't want the shade or the particular product.. but the confidence.  Each and every one of us has in our arsenal our own personal 'lip gloss'.  You know, that one thing that gives us the confidence it takes to get up everyday in the face of adversities and put on our big girl/boy pants and trudge through the muck! That one thing that makes us smile in the middle of traffic on the expressway or while someone is telling you that what you are saying is 'bunk'.  The push that drives salespeople to make just one more call, or gives celebrities the strength to do just one more appearance.
Many people have not yet figured out what their lip gloss is.  Or maybe they have forgotten. I know that when my children were really young I forgot that there was another world outside of diapers and runny noses. I was a military wife, and having him come home from wherever he was and just be thankful that I took care of things while he was gone.. that was my lip gloss.. that was what gave me the strength to go through yet another deployment!
Your lip gloss can be anything! It can be God, a pat on the back, kind words from a loved one or friend, a cute new outfit, the admiration of your peers, a manicure or pedicure, money, dreams, or simply a hug. We all need to find our personal lip gloss and give ourselves a dose or two (or three or four) each day.  Try to help someone else figure out what their lip gloss is. That motivating factor that can make a person smile even when you lose your job, the electricity is turned off and your puppy eats your only decent pair of shoes!
What is your lip gloss???