Courage...

Hi everyone,

Well, it took some courage for me to post today, since it's been quite some time :-).

I have hesitated to post because of the many challenges I've been dealing with of late - not the least of which is my husband's continuing jaw/eating/swallowing issues as a result of the 62  radiation treatments he endured for his tongue cancer 7 years ago.

When I thought of words I could use for my post today, the word "courage" came to mind. There are so many times we need courage in life, aren't there?

Sometimes, it's the courage to speak up. Maybe someone has said something unfair, or we have an idea that we feel is valuable but we're having a hard time speaking up. It may even be that we've been mistreated and it's time to put a stop to it. That may take courage.

Sometimes, it's the courage to get up! There are days when we are fairly certain that once our feet hit the floor, the day could easily sap our energy due to the obligations or frustrations we'll have to face. And THAT may take courage!

Maybe we just need the courage to keep up - with the frantic pace of life, with changes in our jobs, with the demands of others. Do you ever feel like it would be easier to give up??

Other times, it's the courage to let up... as some of you know, I am a bit of a "control freak."  Well, I think "freak" might be a little strong, LOL, but I do indeed like to be able to control my world and my life. But, alas, life sometimes has other plans, does it not? There are some situations which laugh at our efforts to gain control. That just puts me on the other side of "the courage to get up" again and I want to remain all cozy in my bed where "life" cannot find me!

But in the end, I find the courage to "buck up" and do what needs to be done.

Tomorrow, Guy and I will be traveling to Shands Hospital at the University of Florida to see if they can help him with the most recent issues he's having, which have been going on for over five months. Truthfully? I just want to stay in bed! I pray that there will be positive answers, but I can't be sure that's what we'll hear. We need courage just to walk in there tomorrow, even though there's a good possibility we won't even get answers since it's our first visit for this issue. 

Whatever challenges you have coming your way or are in the middle of right now, this minute, I encourage you to take a deep breath and draw on that well of courage you have inside you. You do know it's there, right? We just have to tap into it...sometimes over and over again. But you know what's really incredible? The well never runs dry!

I'm wishing for you all the courage you need to face a new day...

Blessings,

Linda
www.LindasWorkshops.com
www.LindasWorkshops.blogspot.com 

Challenges...

Brody's graduation :-) 

 

Hi everyone,

 

Well, you can see by the look on Brody's face that he found the whole "graduation" thing a challenge! He has been "in school" for close to 5 months with holidays and spring break (lol), but he did pass his AKC Canine Good Citizen test last week. It was a bit of a challenge for him to stay at the end of a 20-foot leash while I walked away, but he did a great job with that and the other 9 pieces of the test. It is a bigger challenge for him to do what I ask when it's something he reallllly doesn't want to do - like get off the chair where we sit together so I can straighten his blanket! And it's a challenge for me to lift him since he now weighs nearly 75#... Our next challenge will be to see if he enjoys therapy work. Our goal is to visit a local hospice or nursing home once a week. It will be up to Brody whether or not we continue to do it after a few test runs. If it is too much of a challenge and it stresses him too much, we will discontinue the project. He's been through too much to stress him out intentionally.

 

Brody is facing somewhat minor challenges, of course. But we all face more major challenges from time to time, don't we? Sometimes it's health-related, as with my husband right now. For the past month, he has been unable to open his mouth far enough to eat. HUGE challenge in keeping his weight up, keeping enough nutrition in him, keeping his energy level up, keeping his temper because of the stress...and keeping my patience, I hate to admit.

 

I have a couple of friends who are facing significant health challenges, too, both related to that dreaded "c" word - cancer. Every day is a challenge to stay positive, to try not to get consumed with what the future might hold. 

 

Sometimes our challenges are relationship-based...whether that's with a significant other, a sibling, a co-worker, an elderly parent, a friend...dealing with other humans can present unique challenges to say the least. 

 

Sometimes the challenge is with finances. Those kinds of challenges can appear overnight with car repairs, household maintenance, helping someone else, medical bills...the list could go on and on.

And sometimes the challenge involves our work - or for some of you, lack thereof. I have friends who are searching for work at an age when they should be planning retirement. Jobs for those of us over a "certain age" can be a challenge. Learning a new job can be a challenge. Finding work that we enjoy can be a challenge. Finding a job that pays enough to allow us to eat can be a challenge. Finding enough work when we are self-employed can be a challenge. 

For me, it's apparently a challenge to keep up with my blog - even though it's something I love. I feel an obligation to stay ahead of my workshop schedule, help my husband, pay bills, shop for groceries, do the laundry...you know, all that "fun stuff"!  So the blog doesn't always get the attention I would like to give it. But I can't beat myself up over it. I have to prioritize so as not to cause myself additional anxiety over what I left undone.

Obviously, what I'm getting at here is that there seems to be no shortage of challenges for most of us. But truly, how we respond often determines whether or not the challenge gets more daunting or we learn to handle it with the least amount of stress. If we focus only on the negative aspects of a challenge, we can pretty well bet that negativity will continue to hound us. If we at least TRY to find the positives, for those brief moments when we are in the "positive zone," things will be easier to handle - and those brief moments might stretch out to not-so-brief moments of being in that zone.

The ultimate challenge, of course, is how do we stay in the positive zone more??

What do you think? How do YOU stay in the positive zone when faced with significant challenges?

Let me know - I love to hear from you!

Blessings,

Linda

www.LindasWorkshops.com

Linda@LindasWorkshops.com

Seasons...

Greetings everyone...

Well, here in Florida, we are just starting to feel a change of seasons - for about 9.3 minutes per day ;-)  In the early mornings, if I am standing in the shade and there's a breeze, the breeze hints that there are cooler days ahead. In the evenings, I can feel those cooler days getting closer. It's time for a new season.

Sometimes it's time for a new season in life, isn't it? And if you're like me, you might not be ready - or you may even be denying that it's coming.

We just experienced a season like that. Murphy, our 16-year old rescued kitty, died on August 22 and I have to face a new season without him. He slept with me (I know some won't approve, but he was my buddy!), he worked on my desk with me (and sometimes drove me crazy bumping up against the computer to get my attention), and he spent quiet time with me most mornings. The void is noticeable.

Murphy had shown signs that he was slowing down, so it was easy to deny that he was also losing weight and having a few "off" days now and then. He played just 2 nights before we said goodbye. In my mind, I convinced myself that he was still the same, young and ornery, and that we had a lot of years left. But somewhere deep in my heart, I knew he was going downhill. The occasional blood tests were showing signs of some ailments that kitties don't recover from. Still, I did not want to face this new season.

As we've said goodbye to Murphy, we've said hello to Brody, our rescued Australian shepherd. Thankfully, he has made me smile at some point every single day since we adopted him. Sometimes the smiles from Brody come through the tears about Murphy. That's how seasons work, I guess. There are good things and sometimes some not-so-good things about the seasons we go through in life.

There are seasons where we feel financially secure, or relatively healthy and fit, or deeply satisfied with our work - or our relationships - or our cars - or our homes - or our                ...

However you fill in that blank, I'll bet you agree that there are also times when we aren't all that thrilled with the current season. 

So what should we do? Hide until it passes? That didn't work so well the last time I tried it! Instead, we need to be in the moment - recognize a season for what it is...a season. A period of time that eventually passes - whether we want it to or not. 

And maybe while we're living in this season, we can also look foward to the new season that's coming just as sure as that cooler weather carried on the breezes here in Florida.

What season are you struggling with? Can you picture the new season waiting for you? Maybe your new season doesn't actually bring a change in circumstances - maybe it just brings a change in you - peace, joy, contentment...whatever this season has been missing. May you find it as you experience this particular season.

Blessings,

Linda

www.LindasWorkshops.com

Linda@LindasWorkshops.com