As I look at my blog posts, I see that I never published my #oneword 2013. Shame on me! Well, this year, it will be posted.
Last year, I struggled with what my word would be. I was struggling to find the right word to inspire me for my (fruitless) jobsearch. This year, the word is easy. My #oneword is JOYOUS.
For most of my life, I have been what some would call an optimist. I usually see the glass as half full and that there is usually something positive to be found even in bad situations. The last few years have been very stressful for me. I have a negative nelly in my life. I was able for the better part of a quarter of a century to ignore the negative energy. But with the loss of my job, the lack of employment opportunity for me and the death of my mother, I allowed the negativity to take residence in me.
I honestly do not understand how people stay in this mindset. I was absolutely miserable. Then I remembered ( with a lot of help from inspirational memes and such) that being happy is a choice, and I was choosing to be miserable.
I have my health, I have two healthy, smart and good-natured children. There is a roof over my head and food in my tummy. I have great friends and a wonderful family. I am intelligent and I have a lot to offer. I am free and I choose JOY!
I vow to greet every day with a smile. I will enjoy my children's laughter and join with them. I will embrace the possibilities of each new day. I will be silly and self-deprecating and lose the inhibitions that stop me from dancing in the rain. ( I still won't sing at the tops of my lungs because I respect your ears but I will sing) and I will wish upon a star. I will swim because I love it and not be ashamed in a bathing suit.
2014 is going to be a most JOYOUS year! Come find your Joy with me!
Monday, January 6, 2014
Welcome 2014! New Year, New Me ( or old me, with a coat of paint)
I have not been a good little blogger. To be honest, I was not believing that I had anything worthwhile to talk about. This happens to a lot of out of work people. We question our own worth because our worth is tied into our employment status. But, for most of us, that is not our only contribution. I am a mom, and I have two awesome daughters that I love and take care of. I am a good friend ( at least I like to think so) but I need to stop hiding because of my unemployment. I am a good citizen. I vote, try to keep up with current events and political what-not. And, OMG, I have read nearly every article ever written on how to get hired, so even tho I haven't been hired, I am a de facto expert on the subject.
I have come to realize, however, that I do have something worthwhile to say. I have skills and knowledge to be shared and I am going to do so. If I want to be respected for what I am and what I know, I need to respect myself for those things. I need to take my life by it's horns and make it into what I want it to be. No more hiding, no more waiting and definitely no more letting others determine my worth.
I am starting to formulate a plan. I know what my strengths are ( and my weaknesses) , and I am going to use them, for myself and for others. As the plan comes together, I am going to blog about it and about other things. I love the beach and anything related to it. I love photography. I love baking and throwing parties and I love kids. I love the idea of crafts, but I am not very good at it. I am trying to learn how to be organized. I have (relatively late in life) become obsessed with women's shoes. I, like most people, want and need to lose some weight. I love to read! and I have always wanted to write.
So here is one of my resolutions: to start blogging regularly. At least once a week. I will schedule it on my calendar, like an appointment, so I won't forget. So here we go! Wish me luck! Keep me accountable! Happy 2014!
I have come to realize, however, that I do have something worthwhile to say. I have skills and knowledge to be shared and I am going to do so. If I want to be respected for what I am and what I know, I need to respect myself for those things. I need to take my life by it's horns and make it into what I want it to be. No more hiding, no more waiting and definitely no more letting others determine my worth.
I am starting to formulate a plan. I know what my strengths are ( and my weaknesses) , and I am going to use them, for myself and for others. As the plan comes together, I am going to blog about it and about other things. I love the beach and anything related to it. I love photography. I love baking and throwing parties and I love kids. I love the idea of crafts, but I am not very good at it. I am trying to learn how to be organized. I have (relatively late in life) become obsessed with women's shoes. I, like most people, want and need to lose some weight. I love to read! and I have always wanted to write.
So here is one of my resolutions: to start blogging regularly. At least once a week. I will schedule it on my calendar, like an appointment, so I won't forget. So here we go! Wish me luck! Keep me accountable! Happy 2014!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
My thoughts on Newtown
I have not blogged since this time last year for my #oneword2012. I have struggled with what to write as I was unemployed and looking to transition careers. It felt presumptuous to write about a career that I haven't been privileged to enter yet and my #sasearch had not born any fruit.
I feel compelled to write because of the tragedy in #Newtown Ct last week. I do not have any words of wisdom; I am just feeling so bereft that I need to share with my community. I did not know anyone personally in Newtown and live 150 miles or so away. But I have always believed that it takes a village to raise a child and our village was attacked. Babies, just learning how to read and add. Starting their day reviewing the day, the date, reciting the pledge of allegiance, having circle time. Taken from us in the most horrifying manner, because they couldn't fight back. Their teachers, heroes in my eyes on a normal day, bravely facing the firestorm, hiding the kids, jumping in front of the bullets, comforting them even as they lay dying. Parents, spouses, siblings and friends were starting their day just as they did every other school day, some rushing their families out the door, sure that they could make up for it in the evening that would never come. The police officers and state troopers that ran to the scene and prevented an even worse outcome by their quick response; having to have that scene burned into their minds. The emergency responders, doctors and nurses who prepped for patients that never came. My heart is breaking for all of them.
And yet hope is renewed in Newtown. You see the community coming together to support each other. You see the families of the angels choosing to remember the light that came from those lives and the love that they brought instead of the manner of their untimely deaths. Strangers are reaching out from all over the country and around the world to stand together and support each other.
Finally, a real discussion on the proliferation of violence is taking place. The needs of the mentally ill in our communities is being brought out of the shadows. The needs of children in sleepy little towns and congested inner cities and everywhere in between are at forefront of the national collective. And maybe, just maybe, the world may become a little bit safer. And that will be the legacy of the 26 angels of Newtown Ct.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO64urOFNaY&feature=youtu.be
I feel compelled to write because of the tragedy in #Newtown Ct last week. I do not have any words of wisdom; I am just feeling so bereft that I need to share with my community. I did not know anyone personally in Newtown and live 150 miles or so away. But I have always believed that it takes a village to raise a child and our village was attacked. Babies, just learning how to read and add. Starting their day reviewing the day, the date, reciting the pledge of allegiance, having circle time. Taken from us in the most horrifying manner, because they couldn't fight back. Their teachers, heroes in my eyes on a normal day, bravely facing the firestorm, hiding the kids, jumping in front of the bullets, comforting them even as they lay dying. Parents, spouses, siblings and friends were starting their day just as they did every other school day, some rushing their families out the door, sure that they could make up for it in the evening that would never come. The police officers and state troopers that ran to the scene and prevented an even worse outcome by their quick response; having to have that scene burned into their minds. The emergency responders, doctors and nurses who prepped for patients that never came. My heart is breaking for all of them.
And yet hope is renewed in Newtown. You see the community coming together to support each other. You see the families of the angels choosing to remember the light that came from those lives and the love that they brought instead of the manner of their untimely deaths. Strangers are reaching out from all over the country and around the world to stand together and support each other.
Finally, a real discussion on the proliferation of violence is taking place. The needs of the mentally ill in our communities is being brought out of the shadows. The needs of children in sleepy little towns and congested inner cities and everywhere in between are at forefront of the national collective. And maybe, just maybe, the world may become a little bit safer. And that will be the legacy of the 26 angels of Newtown Ct.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO64urOFNaY&feature=youtu.be
Friday, January 6, 2012
#oneword 2012 : Achieve
This is my first blog post and I tried to get it together for reverbbroads 2011; I found it more difficult than I imagined to place my thoughts on "paper". So now it is 2012 and I am starting anew. Originally RENEW or anew was going to be my oneword. I am looking to redefine myself . I am looking to become a student affairs professional. I have been accepted to a Master's program in Higher Education. Great first steps.
But as I thought about it more I realized that I wanted the word to convey action, so WILL became my choice:
I WILL get a position as a Student Affairs Professional.
I WILL get my Master's in Higher Education
I WILL ........
Then I was watching Oprah's Lifeclass. There it was that I found my oneword and inspiration. A girl in Africa wanted to learn to read. But girls in Africa are not allowed in school. She learned to read and write by doing her brother's homework. She then wrote down her dreams and buried them. And then she ACHIEVED them. She came to America and got her Batchelor's degree, then her Master's degree and now her Doctorate. AND now she is building a school in her villiage so that other girls can learn.
But as I thought about it more I realized that I wanted the word to convey action, so WILL became my choice:
I WILL get a position as a Student Affairs Professional.
I WILL get my Master's in Higher Education
I WILL ........
Then I was watching Oprah's Lifeclass. There it was that I found my oneword and inspiration. A girl in Africa wanted to learn to read. But girls in Africa are not allowed in school. She learned to read and write by doing her brother's homework. She then wrote down her dreams and buried them. And then she ACHIEVED them. She came to America and got her Batchelor's degree, then her Master's degree and now her Doctorate. AND now she is building a school in her villiage so that other girls can learn.
verb (used with object)
1.
to bring to a successful end; carry through; accomplish: The police crackdown on speeders achieved its purpose.
2.
to get or attain by effort; gain; obtain: to achieve victory.
It is an action word; but it also has another component: SUCCESSFUL
so not only WILL I do something, I WILL be SUCCESSFUL!!
ACHIEVE what a POWERFUL WORD...................
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