We are on a never-ending quest for happiness. It is what life is about. Living in a way that brings us joy and accomplishments should make us happy, yet to many it does not. What exactly is happiness? Is it a big house, a fancy car or is it something more? We spend our lives pursuing things; education, a good job, more money, a spouse, a bigger house and the list goes on and on. Milestones that from all appearances should make us happy. Yet why are so many people unhappy? Why is there so much ill will and angst? Our lives have gotten so complex, yet our basic desire to be loved and feel connected has remained the same. The world we live in has changed our perception of happiness by trying to convince us that happiness is wrapped up in material things. We are inundated 24/7 with images of new cars, new fashion and plastic looking, badly behaving celebrities who are society’s role models. At the end of the day however, what’s important is how we feel about ourselves. There is no amount of money in the world, no house big enough or car fancy enough that can give us a feeling of being loved, respected or appreciated. The pursuit of happiness is a personal journey to find self-worth and meaning in our lives. A chance to make the world a better, kinder, gentler place and hopefully in the process find happiness!
love
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Love is the basis of life. With it, you have everything, without it you have nothing. Whether it’s the love of a child, parent or friend, love is what makes us feel special. A connection to another human being that allows us to look past faults and flaws and appreciate that person for their good qualities instead. There is a fine line however between love and hate. Look at the divorce statistics if you do not believe it. The core attribute of being human is emotion with love being at the top of the list. If there was more love in this world wouldn’t the world be a much better place? If people and society could focus on love instead of hate what a different world this could be; a world filled with love.
Love is beautiful and while everyday should be a day to celebrate its beauty, today February 14th is Valentine’s Day a day dedicated to love in all it’s splendour. May you share a Happy Valentine’s Day with all those people you love and even some who you may not. Love let’s us look past the bad and that is not such a bad thing.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Tim Tebow and the Broncos….
Tim Tebow and the Broncos season ended last night in Foxboro with a decisive loss. Tom Brady and the Patriots were unstoppable and played flawlessly and with home field advantage they triumphed. Congratulations to them and to the eventual Superbowl winners. I am disappointed the Broncos didn’t go all the way, but so is every other fan whose team losses. For every winning team there is a losing one; something we have forgotten about in this country since sports our own children play nowadays is based more on showing up than skill. When I was a child, there was no trophy for attendance. Everyone did not get an award and therefore awards meant something. Today in our quest to be fair to everyone we have taken the incentive away to do better and win. Therefore, we are now dealing with a bunch of sore losers. Losing is part of the life and part of the game. A gracious loser is a lost art as nowadays many defeated opponents and fans get ‘mad’ rather than respecting an opponents win . The better team won and Tim Tebow was gracious as usual. There can be only one Superbowl winner and to those teams still on that quest to get there, good luck.
The Broncos ended up having a great season and I have said it before and I will say it again, I think Tim Tebow is great role model. He is a 24-year-old who ‘gets it’. He focuses his energy on not only football but his charity work and due to my own charity work I find this commendable. He brings sick kids to games and spends time with them and their families to keep the game in perspective. He believes in God and family. He is respectful, well poised and well spoken. Tim Tebow’s got class! So for all you ‘haters’ I ask you this, what was your twenty something child doing on a Saturday night in January? Do they have a national platform to help sick children and utilize it to make a difference for these kids? Have they sparked a passion and dialogue within this country about respect and religion that has not been seen in recent memory? Do they work long and hard at perfecting a skill with a team? Are they humble, polite and appreciative for where they have gotten, or are your kids sitting at their computers on a Saturday night and just like you writing bad things about Tim Tebow? Could it be we now have a generation of people who received one too many attendance trophies as children? Is it so difficult to recognize or appreciate accomplishment even if we don’t agree with it? Or could it be all of those who find fault with Tim Tebow are really are just jealous? The answer to that question lies within each person, but us Tebow fans will respect those opinions no matter what they may be. It is what Tim would do!
My Christmas Wish….
Merry Christmas!
Things I wish for this Christmas…..
I wish for continued health and longevity for my family and friends, you do not appreciate good health until you no longer have it.
I wish for peace but understand unrest, for it is only when we are pushed to our limits do we flourish and grow.
I am blessed with a wonderful life and hope my blessings continue. No matter how difficult the journey has been , the people I have met along the way and the memories are priceless.
I wish for continuous hope for the future. A life without hope is bleak.
I wish for forgiveness and reconciliation from those who are distant as forgiveness and moving on are far better than anger. What a nicer world this could be if people could just get along.
I wish for understanding, because the challenges of comprehending many things at times is difficult.
I wish to keep my sense of humor because finding life funny is much more rewarding.
I wish to be back into my size 6 clothes because I am vain and although I am older and wiser, I am not taking middle age and middle age spread quietly or philosophically.
I wish everyone a wonderful holiday! Sending good wishes to others feels great.
Hope you get all you are wishing for…Merry Christmas!
The Pursuit of the Perfect Present….
The holidays are synonymous with gift giving and lots of presents. The daily report on the news about holiday shopping tries to track just how many people are shopping and what they spend. Both online and offline, the availability to shop is endless all due to the quest for the ‘perfect present’. Children have a long list of the latest and greatest toys they ‘need’, while teens are more content with gift cards and cold hard cash. Welcome to Christmas! Fortunately or unfortunately, people cannot afford all the expensive ‘toys’ and gadgets. Actually they probably never could, but in years past bought them anyway lending to our current economic crisis. However, what is the perfect present? Is it expensive and flashy, or does the number of presents matter? Does it need to be something larger than anyone else’s, or should it matter to the recipient? Our habits as a gift giver is a good indication of who we are as a person. Do we spend lots of time thinking of things that are meaningful to the recipient or do we just purchase something for the sake of buying to be able to cross another name off our list? Do we take painstaking care to actually make something and give gifts of ourselves, or do we hit buy, wrap and send on our computer? Do we get just as excited about giving our gifts to our loved ones, or is the exercise of gift giving just that; an exercise in exchanging? When we write a card ,do we write something special to the person we didn’t reach out to since the prior year, or do we just stuff and send? Do we honor traditions of cooking, baking then sharing our bounty with family and friends? With every holiday season we get an opportunity to share our lives with all our loved ones. A chance to reach out and remember our family traditions, to acknowledge why we are friends to begin with and to reconnect with those people who we miss. The lights, decorations and presents of Christmas pale in comparison to the joy and happiness of spending time and giving heartfelt mementos to loved ones. As the days tick by to Christmas and New Year’s, my wish for everyone is to take joy in the season; appreciate and celebrate your family and friends and enjoy your quest in pursuit of the perfect present!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving is the official kick-off to the holidays and a day for family and friends. Every year as we sit at the Thanksgiving table, we go around to ask everyone sitting at that table what exactly they are thankful for. Although a hungry bunch does not want to hear an excessively long list, here is my list of things I am thankful for. I am thankful for good health for myself and for my family and friends. Although we all suffer from the occasional aches and pains, everyone is just fine. I am thankful for my family, my two beautiful daughters who keep me laughing and I am very honored to say are also my friends. My parents who still at eighty something years old are up for pretty much all of our shenanigans. I am thankful for the love of my life who makes me laugh, smile and has enriched my life in too many ways to even count. I am thankful for all my Honeysuckle friends who help me at the drop of a hat to assist the Honeysuckle Foundation. I am thankful for Lauren’s boyfriend and all my long-lost friends who I have ‘found’ on Facebook who share their lives with me and give me something to chuckle about on a regular basis. Life is about laughter and we sure have plenty. I am thankful for everyone who has touched my life for the good or not so good, as only through these experiences has my life become so rich and full. I am thankful for my life. Although it has been tough at times, the good would not be so rewarding or sweet without any bad.
May God bless everyone this Thanksgiving and holiday season!
Never too old…
My daughters, although they are six years apart, have birthdays that fall within a 10 day span. This time of year is busy not only for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas but to celebrate both girls birthdays. This year Alicia turned 16, which is a milestone in itself, but so is every birthday. Today is Lauren’s birthday and at 22 years old I can’t help but wonder where the time has gone. Lauren is all done with college and she is an adult. She is responsible and thoughtful, however, she is still my little girl. I can have conversations with her about investments, finance and politics yet still get that phone call when life is overwhelming her. I cherish it and I cherish her.
No one knows what tomorrow may bring so it is today and the little things that really matter. Birthdays are one of those special things, because you are never too old to celebrate your birthday!
Happy Birthday Lauren!!!
Birthdays!
Birthdays are those special days of the year when young people like to celebrate and older folks care to forget. The passing of another year, more experience and hopefully a fresh start for the future. Birthdays are special and the tradition of birthday cards, presents and cake are meant to make this day stand out from all of the rest. Today is my youngest daughter Alicia’s 16th birthday. A milestone for so many reasons, it is her day to feel extra special. As her mother, I remember the moment she was born. I also remember most of the sixteen years that seemed to have flown by and there is much I choose to forget. But like most parents, I feel very blessed Alicia is mine. So today as we celebrate with family and friends, I thank God for my precious gift and I thank Alicia for bringing much joy and happiness into my world.
Happy Birthday Alicia!!!!!
Wealth
Wealth: an abundance or profusion of anything; plentiful amount. How do you define wealth? Is it having lots of money, living in a big home and owning lots of nice things? Is wealth strictly measured in material items, or is wealth much more than that? I always thought the goal was to have more things, and while we cannot live without shelter, food and clothing, how much is too much? Do we get caught up in acquiring more ‘wealth’ that the small intangibles are forgotten; a telephone call to a long-lost friend, dropping by to see an elderly neighbor or making time to attend your child’s practice. At the end of our lives do we wish to surround ourselves with our possessions or are people what matters? Do we strive so hard to ‘make it’ that we forget to enjoy the journey? I once thought I knew what was important in achieving lifelong goals for a comfortable life yet after witnessing others who reached that goal to find out they were all alone, I know what does matter. My life has taken me on a journey high and low and given me opportunities, brought wonderful people into my life and I am blessed with incredible family and friends. I may never be rich, however I am very, very wealthy!
Happy Father’s Day!
Happy Father’s Day! A day set aside to celebrate the men in our lives who care about their families and live their lives protecting them. Anyone can have a child, it takes someone special to love that child. I have been blessed with an amazing father who has taught me that his love for me and my daughters is immense. Non-judgemental, even when I have made some big mistakes and choices in my life, my dad did not care. He supported me, encouraged me and let me know I was never alone. I am lucky to still have my dad around as many others my age do not. My dad is my hero and I love him with all my heart. There are also those men in our lives who treat others as if they were their own. The Michael’s, Tom’s, Bruce’s and Ron’s of the world who make the world a better place. They live their lives with the same love and concern for others as they have for their own families. They are the proverbial ‘dad’s’ who live their lives accordingly. Young or old, new or experienced, father’s are special people. So if you have a man in your life who has helped you, supported you and loved you, let them know how much you appreciate them! You will probably make their day even better. Happy Father’s Day!
You must be logged in to post a comment.