Taking a leap

For some time now, I have a friend and colleague who has been encouraging me to
make a leap of faith and start a new career.  The current economy is making it harder
and harder to stay in the land of non-profit organizations and work in my field;
I'm not sure why I'm still hanging on.

Helping others talk about and take steps towards change comes naturally for me,
but I find it somewhat hypocritical that I am hesitant to do it myself.  After all, in an
earlier blog didn't I list the changes that have occurred in my life just recently?
What is the difference? Well, the big difference is that a career change means uncertain
income.  I have responsibilities and obligations to meet and what if the new leap of faith
doesn't help me met those? What if I'm not successful?

Well, what if the new path exceeds those responsibilities and obligations?  My own
daughter is a prime example.  She created her own business, is highly competent in her
delivery and is extremely successful. She dove in and made it work and her business is still growing.

I know that I am coming closer to the day when I will be ready to make the leap.  But first,
I have to fully convince myself that I have something worthwhile to offer people AND get
paid a livable income to do it.  Now, that's the secret for us all, isn't it?

Birthdays

Recently, I was blessed with another year of life.  Last year was quite the whirlwind and I
don't think this year will be much different.  Here's a life of events that happened August 01, 2010
to August 01, 2011:
My son moved out (to his Dad's) and started college.
My daughter got married.
Brent & I got engaged.
Brent and I put our homes up for sale.
Brent and I signed a contract to build a new home.
Brent sold his home and moved everything to storage, except for a dresser, a few tools and some clothes.
We got married.
My house got shown for potential buyers over 20 times.
My daughter and her husband bought a house.
My daughter's dog moved to Kansas City to be with her after living with me for 3 years.
My son moved into a house with 3 other college guys.
Brent went to Joplin for a month to work on debris clean up.
New house has roof, windows, plumbing, electrical wiring and sheet rock.

No wonder I've been tired.  What do I have to look forward to?
2011 K-State Football Season with my husband
Honeymoon Cruise
Moving into a new house
HOPEFULLY selling my house
For right now, I think that's enough.  I will continue to pray that all of our
health and happiness is once again graced upon us.
What can I say but, "Life is good."

Focus on positive

Everyday I have to remind myself to focus on the positive.  I catch myself during

different times during the day feeling negative about a situation or someone that I

have to snap myself out of it. So, since the last 2 days have been fairly frustrating,

here is a short list of things I feel positive about.

1. My husband

2. My children and his children's health and happiness

3. My central air conditioning

4. Central air conditioning in my Jeep

5. Central air conditioning at work

6. October 1st is only 65 days away and it should be cooler

7. Football season is even closer

8. My family's good health and happiness

9. None of us are politicians

10. None of us are in Iraq or Afghanistan 

11. None of us are in jail

12. My husband will be home in 10 days

13. My skills at my job

14. Good friends

15. Did I say central air conditioning already?

I find these lists help a person keep life in perspective. Life could always be easier,

but it can always be much much worse. Today while observing in a child care program,

one of the 4 year old girls was very excited to tell me that she had been able to visit

her mom in jail on Sunday. Imagine being 4 and going to visit your mom in jail.  Imagine

being 4 and already in your short life, your mom or dad has been gone to war for over

half of your life.

So, I guess the best thing I can say is focus on how much you have to be thankful for

and imagine your life getting better each day because of your loved ones and because

of the good things that you do each day for them and others.  Always assume positive

intent until someone proves you wrong.  Re-frame your thoughts into good thoughts

and your day will follow in positive light.

Thank God for air conditioning. Yes, I know I've said that before. So, to end on something

new, Thank God for snow.  :o)

Recalculating

Earlier this week, I went to a forum for people around the state who are
interested in early childhood issues.  Just as everyone else in the nation,
our profession has seen funding cuts and loss of jobs.  The keynote
speaker was a passionate woman who guided us to think about this
time in our country as a "recalculating" time; just as if we had a GPS
guiding us in our work.

So, in a time of changes and shifts into what we thought we knew,
we are now challenged to go into a recalculating time. Our learning
curve has been shifted and we are going to have to get creative
and think of things differently.

How many times in our lives do we have to recalculate? Sometimes
it comes in lumps, sometimes it's spread out.  But in the end, we
do survive.  The lesson here? It's not what happens to you, but
who you have along your side and what you learn from the
experience.

Reacting

I can remember when I was in my teens, I had a bit of a temper.
It didn't flare until I had tolerated all I could handle and then I would
let it fly.  Usually it would be a hairbrush that would go airborne or
a good old door slamming.  As I've gotten older, my tolerance level
has grown and so has my expression of my frustration or anger; and
I try to make a conscious decision to respond rather than react to a
situation.

Today, I stopped by our new house construction site and as I walked around
the house, (it was only 105 degrees) my temper grew with each step. There
was trash everywhere, Gatorade bottles, water bottles, pop cans, soft drink cups,
McDonald cups, and candy bar wrappers. Then the final thing that caused me
to lose it; cigarette wrappers and cigarette butts. I don't judge people for smoking.
But, I choose not to smoke and I certainly don't want it in my new house.

So, what did I do to release my anger? I picked up all of that trash thrown all over the 3,000+
sq feet of unfinished house. All of the Gatorade bottles, water bottles, pop cans, soft drink cups, etc.  And yes, I even picked up the cigarette packages. No, I didn't pick up the cigarette butts. By the time
I was done, there was 3 boxes full of their trash. One box on each level; main floor, basement and
garage. I left them there in the middle of each floor as a message; this is our home and I've had
it with all of your trash being thrown all over the place. Clean up after yourselves for goodness
sake!

Oh, and I did one more thing. I wrote an email to the builder and the realtor
and told them I do not want any smoking in our home. Maybe I would have felt better to just come home and throw a brush or slam a door.  :o)

Clean up

My husband is in Joplin now helping with the debris clean up from the tornado.  It's

an amazingly sad process. Not in the way one would think.  

They have people doing the labor, people to watch the people doing the labor,

and people to watch the people who are watching the people doing the labor.  

It's a sad day when you can't trust the people who sign up to help a city recover 

from a devastating tornado. 

What those heavy machines are doing is cleaning up the rubble of what

used to be people's homes and businesses. That's the true sad part.  

It's hard to believe that there are fellow Americans who try to steal from

other Americans in a time of disaster.

My only hope is that there will be a time when those people that can not be

trusted will be in a situation that they need help and need mercy from others.

That's when I hope they will learn mercy.  I hope they will be humbled and

realize that what they did to others was wrong.

In the meantime, I will be thankful for my husband, Brent, and all the other good

people who go to help others after a disaster strikes. They are the teachers of

mercy.

Linda

Perspective

The neighborhood that I live in is a sweet, older neighborhood. The streets are lined with huge,  lush old trees.  Some people have lived here for decades, others just a couple years.  Living here for 17 years, I have come to know the people who have lived here and raised their family in the same home that now sees grandchildren and even great-grandchildren come for visits.

My neighbor to the north recently lost her husband of over 50 years. It was a quick loss as he was diagnosed and quickly succumbed to the awful affects of stomach cancer.  Over the years, she has said to me many times that she didn't know what she would do if he died before her. Her worst nightmare came true.

Last night, as I prepared to drive out to our new home that is being built, I ask if she would like to join me.  She quickly prepared to join me and off we went.  As we were catching up with each other's news, I shared with her that my husband was going to be gone for the rest of this month while helping with debris clean up in Joplin, Missouri. I went on to say how much I missed him already and that's when it hit me.  I knew that my husband's absence would change; he would come home. Her beloved husband would not be returning. We looked at each other and I had to stop the tears from flowing in recognition of her situation.  I gained her perspective in that moment and gave myself a silent lecture.

Sometimes, a current situation doesn't seem so bad at all when you get a
glimpse of someone else's pain and realize they would switch places with you in an instant.