Living Above Your Circumstances

This is from EVERYDAY CHEAPSKATE, Apr 25, 2007 – Mary Hunt

Living Above Your Circumstances

Her letter was long. Page after page she went on about every aspect of her miserable life.

In between the accounts of her husband’s unemployment and her high blood pressure, this woman managed to weave each and every detail of their broken down cars, leaking roof, busted faucets, ungrateful children, delinquent taxes, nosy neighbors, empty retirement account and unpaid bills. I’m telling you, by the time I reached the word that for me spelled relief (Sincerely), I was nearly worn out.

My immediate reaction was a sympathetic, “Oh, you poor thing!” I mean really, the way she carried on I was nearly convinced she was enduring troubles and pressures way beyond the legal limit. Her situation as she described it did appear to be without solution.

I couldn’t help but wonder how things would be if she won the lottery, which according to her hastily written postscript was her only source of hope. That would certainly let me off the hook because the point of her letter was for me to fix her, her family—her life. She was looking for a fairy godmother, complete with wand, who would magically return everything to normal, whatever that is. I’ve read about fairy godmothers and I can assure you, I’m no fairy godmother.

Some people allow their problems and pressures to control their lives. Whether they live under their circumstances or above them has nothing to do with the troubles themselves, but how they view them.

Those who live under their circumstances see every calamity as a catastrophe. They choose to be victims; they whine, complain and carry on.

Those who live above their circumstances are not in denial. They simply choose to see these times as hair-pin curves on the road of life that will straighten out soon.

While you live and breathe on Planet Earth you will experience troubles and pressures from time to time and in varying degrees. It doesn’t matter how wealthy, educated, noble or good you are. Life cannot be separated from periods of adversity. Here are some basic steps to help you gain control of your circumstances:

CHOOSE JOY. One thing that distinguishes you from the animal kingdom is your ability to control your attitude. You choose your thoughts, so for today choose joy.

SMILE ON PURPOSE . Regardless of how you are feeling, greet the next person you see (even if it is a family member) with a smile and sincere pleasantry such as, “Isn’t this a wonderful day?”

DON’T DWELL ON PROBLEMS. Refuse to worry unless you have a pencil and paper in front of you. With those tools in hand your worrying automatically becomes a planning session. Write down creative and positive ideas.

DON’T BE FOOLED BY DISGUISES. Your troubles are brilliant opportunities disguised as impossible situations. Those who recognize this truth are experts at turning lemons into lemonade.

What you can do matters much more than what you can’t. Focus on getting through the mess or if it’s not going away, find a way to joyfully persevere. Your greatness will never be measured by wealth or position but by what it takes to make you quit. That’s why you must never, ever give up. No matter what. EC

What a Wonderful Picture!

Click on this picture.  Then click again, so you can read the story.

Lights are Required!

It’s been foggy here off and on over the last couple weeks.  I am just totally shocked and amazed at how many people do not turn their lights on as they drive!!  Are they just not thinking or do they really think that they don’t need the lights even though you can’t see the buildings across the street!!  =)

I feel sorry for law enforcement, like my husband, who have to deal every day with these nuts behind the wheel!!!

The Lord Is My Pace Setter

The Lord is my pace setter…I shall not rush

He makes me stop for quiet intervals

He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity

He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind and his guidance is peace

Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret, for his presence is here

His timelessness, his all importance will keep me in balance

He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility

My cup of joyous energy overflows

Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours for I shall walk in the Pace of my Lord and dwell in his house for ever.

 (A version of the Twenty-Third Psalm from Japan)

A Rite of Passage?!

Abbye (my 2 year old) cut her hair Monday.  No, we don’t have any scissors laying around!  She used the baby fingernail clippers!!  I found her with them and had her put them up.  I vaguely remember her saying something about her hair.  However, I really don’t remember what happened that caused me to not get more information from her!  Soon after that we ate supper.  As I was taking Abbye’s bib off, I noticed a long piece of hair had fallen on the bib.  My first thought was very scary: Cancer!  I know that it’s the chemo that causes the hair loss, but I guess with my grandpa dying a little over a year ago from cancer it’s still on my mind.  (Thank you, Jesus, that our family is healthy and strong!) 

Matt said that every girl cuts her hair sometime.  I couldn’t argue…I did when I was young.  I usually chose to do it before my birthday and Christmas — when the most pictures were taken!!  However, since I found scissors and usually worked on my bangs, the damage was very noticable!!  So, is this a rite of passage or something for girls!?!  =)

(This song came to my mind when I was thinking of cancer.  Have you hear Skin (Sarabeth) by Rascal Flatts?  Wow!  What a awesome, yet heart wrenching song!  Here’s a link to the video…make sure you have Kleenex handy.

http://www.cmt.com/sitewide/apps/mediaplayer/index.jhtml?vid=65834&paid=710215&gateway=artists&channelID=21§ion_1=az&adPth=/sitewide/ads/adsetup/artists/&refURL=/artists/az/rascal_flatts/artist.jhtml&adPN=artist&orgID=10§ion_3=artist.jhtml§ion_2=rascal_flatts§ion_0=artists

Interesting Quote from Sex in the City

“Later that night I got to thinking about safe sex.  Odd how only when our physical life is at risk do we follow certain guidelines to protect ourselves.  But what about our emotional lives?  Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a little pamphlet to warn us what unsafe behavior might be high risk to ourselves or our relationships.  And even if you take all the precautions and emotionally try to protect yourselves… When you crawl in bed with someone, is sex ever safe?“  (from Sarah Jessica Parker’s character)

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I was flipping through channels after I noticed there weren’t any movies on I wanted to see.  (I know, this turning on the TV when Matt is working and the girls are in bed can be a bad habit.  I can always tell if I’m really interested in the book I’m reading by what I choose to do!!)  Anyway, I dropped in on this little monologue and was like, “Wow!  What honest insight from such a slutty show!”  And, since I have a DVR I was able to rewind, pause, rewind, pause, … until I got the quote to share with you all.

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Yes, Miss Sex in the City, your emotional health is one more reason to not share your body in every dating relationship, but to wait until you get married!!

Not the Time

During pregnancy is not the time to watch sad movies, listen to sad stories, or hear sad songs.  Even if I’ve seen or heard them before, I cry and cry and cry!  I feel sorry for the people involved.  Also, I just think how I would feel to be in those situations.

Let’s think happy thoughts!!  =)

I Pushed It and Now Suffer the Consequences!

During this pregnancy I have no desire to eat sweets or to drink coffee drinks.  For my health and the health of the baby, this is wonderful.  However, I really truly miss a coffee drink or some chocolate now and then!!  This has been hard even though I don’t crave them.  I could sit in front of my wonderful homemade chocolate chip cookies and have no desire to eat one!  

But, today I just wanted to want something chocolate!!  So, I chose to eat some chocolate ice cream.  For the rest of the day I have had diarrhea…which I’m sure you’re excited to learn about!!! 

My lesson:  Don’t push food that you don’t need down a pregnant body or there will be consequences!!  =)

My due date is December 28th!

I still can’t figure out how to make pictures bigger and clearer on here, but here’s the first picture of our baby!  I had a doctor appointment yesterday, and the due date is December 28th.  The doctor said everything looks great! 

Keep the baby and I in your prayers.  I don’t feel well and am extremely tired.  I’m so far behind with our laundry and other household jobs!  I’ve been trying to lay down when the girls are both down for a nap.  I never realized how much I got done during that time!  =) 

Good Morning!

Potty training…what a challenge! 

My mom is worried about us expecting another baby with Abbye not being potty trained.  But I would hope and pray that Abbye will have decided in 9 months or 8 or 7 that releasing all her waste in the potty is the way to go!  I phrase it that way because she knows how to do it, but she has to choose to do it!  Right now she would much rather pee in her pants and then go get the cleaning spray and rag to clean up anything that got on the carpet!!