At some point in life, you were planning for this moment right now.
You were saving for this time period, you were educating yourself, or you were investing in something that you hoped would pay off by now.
We have a tendency to get ourselves in a constant state of preparation, and we often forget that we were once looking forward to today. Take time to fall out of planning mode for a bit, and reap the benefits of the work you’ve done to get yourself to where you are right now. Otherwise, what’s the point of it all?
(Source: whereisthecoool)
At church this week our pastor talked about being an ambassador for Christ right where you’re at: in your workplace, neighborhood and city. It’s funny how many times I’ve already seen other blogs/articles online giving the same message since I heard that sermon. I particularly liked this article which features a 63-year-old woman demonstrating what it looks like to have a good attitude on the job. Enjoy!
Kathleen Byers started working as a school crossing guard eight years ago. She brought a chair with her to her post on Dufferin Street, just south of Dundas, in the beginning, but she found that sitting and standing — and sitting and standing all over again— was hard on the knees.
So she ditched the chair and things got better. Though they weren’t perfect. Prolonged standing induced an intense drowsiness and, for a crossing guard, falling asleep on the job is a firing offence.
“Have you ever stood in line before?” Ms. Byers asks. “Standing is so boring.”
And dancing is not. (click the photo for full article)
- January 23
- , 2012
I like Christmas…for the most part. I enjoy the Christmas decorations. I like picking out gifts to give to family members. I love wrapping presents. I love candy canes and decorating Christmas cookies. And who doesn’t like opening presents?
But I must say, there’s a certain happiness that comes the day after Christmas. It’s knowing that all of that is over now, and we can get back to normal. There’s no more crazy holidays in the near future. I can settle into a nice routine and not have to juggle normal weekly activities with all the extra holiday activities. I guess I find that “peace on earth” is a little easier to obtain when it’s not Christmas-time.
So here’s to restful days and peaceful planning for the upcoming year!
- December 27
- , 2011
The link above is to a blog written by a Mom whose family doesn’t pile gifts under the Christmas tree. It sounds wonderful and powerful, yet it takes a brave person to break the mold of tradition and step out into the unknown.
Read it for yourself and be blessed. :)
More news organizations need to do this. As a news consumer, I tend to read the things that seem most interesting or relative to me. But here they’ve compiled their picks of the best photos from the past 24 hours. Who doesn’t like to look at good photography? And the best part is learning the extra tidbits about what’s going on in the world through the captions. Things I learned today: the pope is going to visit Benin, parachutists are falling from the sky in Libya, and people are wading through the streets in Bangkok.
The caption from the photo above?
A girl washes the lid of a cooking pot amid the ruins of a market destroyed by city officials in Benin’s main city of Cotonou November 17, 2011. Vendors and local residents said police used bulldozers and razed the local market in an effort to tidy the city ahead of a three-day visit by Pope Benedict XVI starting on Friday. REUTERS/Finbarr O’Reilly
Click on the photo to see the rest of the photos!
If there was only one tree like that in the world, you would think it was beautiful. But because there are so many, you just can’t see how beautiful it really is.
Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (via bookmania)
Scientist Mohamed Babu from Mysore, India captured beautiful photos of these translucent ants eating a specially colored liquid sugar. Some of the ants would even move between the food resulting in new color combinations in their stomachs. Read more over on the Daily Mail. (via notcot) (via thisiscolossal)
“Translucent ants” — who knew?
So, I never finished a review of The Shape of Mercy, which is a shame because I really did like that book. I found the heroine relatable. It mixed historical with contemporary (A college girl is transcribing a diary written by a young girl who grew up in Salem during the Salem witch trials.). It tackled deeper issues, primarily prejudice and our perception of other people. But I just don’t think I can do it justice by writing a review months after I read it. So, just trust me when I say it was an A (maybe even an A+). I remember finishing it and telling everyone I knew to read it. Well, probably most of my female friends. That counts for something.
Also, if you’re in the Waco area, the Friends of the McLennan County Library is holding its annual book sale this weekend. I’m excited to go see what I can find. Last time I went, I got a couple books but also found the movie Turner and Hooch for $1. I am forever grateful. So go to the book sale!
One day a friend told me I was self-aware. For someone who is, indeed, self-aware that was a momentous occasion. A little bit more of my life made sense at that moment. I spent the next few days being aware of my self-awareness. I was in awe by looking at my thoughts through that lens. For anyone confused by the term ‘self-aware,’ my best shot at explaining it is through my own life.
I like to learn things about myself and then figure out how those things affect the way I live. For instance, upon coming to college I was required to complete a Strengths Test. After answering hundreds of questions, I got back the results that my top five strengths were Belief, Developer, Positivity, Responsibility and Input. At first I just thought this was a neat little activity to help us relate to other people, but to this day (six years later) I find myself thinking, “Oh, I do that because I’m a developer” or “That’s my input strength kicking in.”
Beyond taking tests, there are just certain times when something dawns on me. I think it’s probably God teaching me in the moment, but I find that it applies to many more aspects of life. For example, I recently realized that I like to be efficient. Once I have learned to do something at work, my very next task is to try to learn how to do it as efficiently as possible. This also translates into driving. I’m constantly analyzing which lane to drive in and which route to take in order to get to my destination the fastest way possible. However, it also shows up in negative ways through my tendency to get impatient when things don’t seem to be running as quickly as I think they can be. Double-edged sword, I suppose.
Well, one aspect of myself that has come to the surface recently is my introverted nature. Now, I would never question before the fact that I am an introvert, but through a long conversation with another friend, I was reminded of this trait and what it really means: introverts get energized by being alone. It’s funny how excited I get when I stumble upon these truths. Yes! That’s me!
I look forward to my lunch breaks each day, not only for the chance to eat, but for the opportunity to spend an hour alone in my apartment with no responsibilities. I love driving around with the windows down and the radio blaring all by myself. (I also appreciate a friend now and again, but by no means do I require someone’s presence in the car to complete my joy in the moment.) Perhaps what made the re-learning of this trait exciting was that it was the key to another issue.
For a long time I simply thought that I didn’t like to be busy. I would get drained when we were visiting people every weekend. I looked forward to the days when there was nothing to do and no one to see. My explanation for all of this was that I wore out easily and got tired from frequent traveling. Now, however, I realize that it is actually another aspect of my introverted nature. It’s not that I simply don’t have endurance for several weekends of activity. It’s that spending all of that time with other people drains me, and the only way for me to recharge is to spend some time by myself.
Today I continued learning about this, in fact, when I realized that I was raised by introverts. My family would often spend evenings and weekends separated in our different areas of the house. I would be in my room creating some craft, mom would be on the computer in the spare room, and dad would be in the living room watching TV. It was just so normal then. Only now as I’ve been surrounded by more and more extroverts do I realize how different I am.
So, how about you? Any introverts out there? Or if you’re an extrovert, here’s a link to help you learn how to “Care for your Introvert.”
