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 

Fear...

Hi everyone,

Today's word may seem strange in a blog called "Words to Live By." But something happened last week that reminded me we all deal with fear of one sort or another.

Our rescued big dog, Brody, was abused, pretty seriously it appears (is there any other kind of abuse besides serious?? probably not!) before he came to live with us last year. He is afraid of anything waving over his head like sticks, hands, or anything just in his "air space." A fly followed me in from the garage one evening last week and while sitting at dinner, I noticed it on the kitchen counter. I ran and got the fly swatter and "bam!" He was gone. And so was Brody. I didn't realize that he was behind me when I picked up the fly swatter and the noise and motion scared him to pieces. He bolted for his chair (yes, he has his own chair) in the living room, tail between his legs and ears down. I was mortified that I had caused that fear. Of course, I went to him and talked softly while petting him gently. It took him a solid day to get over his fear yet again - and he's probably not really over it. 

Our rescued crippled kitty, Grover, in the picture above, has his own kind of fear. He can't walk, so he is afraid of loud noises or "big shapes" coming at him. His eyes get big and he starts "scampering" as best he can, making hardly any forward progress. It's hard to watch him knowing he knows he is so vulnerable.

Our furkids both have "physical"-type fears, don't they? But for many of the human species, there are a host of other fears we have to deal with. Health fears...after a visit to the dermatologist today, I was relieved to find that the spot I feared was cancer is not. A later visit to the ophthalmologist, where I was expecting a routine report, brought a different kind of fear as the doctor explained that I am getting higher in the "glaucoma risk" category and it is time to begin medication. I am NOT a medication kinda gal. But the thought of losing my eyesight creates a lot more fear than a measly old eye drop twice a day, so that will be my new normal - and all future appointments with that doctor will likely be tinged with a bit of fear over what my "pressure reading" will indicate this time. 

And I'm sure my husband has some deep-seated fears about his continual health challenges after his tongue cancer - the treatments, as some of you know, have created other hurdles that can be scary.

Other fears might have to do with finances - most of us can relate to having those fears at one time or another. And the way the media keeps telling us how we should all be afraid for our futures, it's a given that it can float to the top of our minds, even when things are somewhat quiet on that front. Being self-employed, my thoughts can turn to fear at the drop of a hat - or the drop of an email telling me a program is cancelled for one reason or another. That's my income and it's not pleasant to have someone snatch it away!

Some people fear public speaking - even me! I do that for a living and yet when I had to give a speech in my graduate class last year, I froze for a few seconds. I had not had the time to practice and prepare the way I would have liked and the fear of my entire grade for that course resting on this one 6-minute presentation simply shut me down. I recovered and did okay in the class, but the fear was real.

Others fear being alone when they get older or driving in busy places. Some of us are still afraid of the dark or of being embarrassed in public. 

The point is, as I'm sure you've figured out, that most of us deal with some sort of fear. The question is, will you control your fear or allow it to control you?

Let me know what you think at the email address shown below. I love to hear from you!

Blessings,
Linda
www.LindasWorkshops.com
Linda@LindasWorkshops.com

Control....hmmmmm

Happy mid-January to you all!

This week's word may have you wondering why I chose it for a "Words to Live By" post. I was thinking about control the other day when I was adjusting the firmness of my side of the bed. Yes, we bought a "sleep number" bed several weeks ago and it gives me the luxury of adjusting the firmness of the mattress I sleep on.

As I adjusted the sleep number to make my side "softer," I thought how nice it would be to be able to adjust the firmness of our lives the same way. After a week of 2 sick animals, a husband with dental and vision issues, my back pain setting up camp, a couple of jobs cancelled and a couple of new ones added - complete with new preparations - I am yearning to "soften" my life for a bit. It's amazing how much "hardness" can come into our lives in such a short period - and let's face it, most of what happened this week is relatively trivial compared to the tragedy in Haiti, those who got devastating news about their health this week, others who are on the verge of losing their homes, etc.

Believe me, I realize that my week was a "walk in the park" compared to others'. And yet...even though we know with our minds that things aren't nearly as difficult as they could be (and maybe have been in the past), still it can all pile up on us at once and life feels hard.

Here's the deal, though - even though we can't control the hardness of our lives (although we do bring some of it on ourselves sometimes), there are things we can control ~

We can control our thoughts, for instance. Yes, I know, sometimes those negative thoughts attack us like a hungry lion and we may not be able to control the initial "attack." We can control how long we decide to hang out with the lion, though - and we can also control what actions we take as a result of the attack. Will we ferociously fight back (and kick those negative thoughts out)? Or will we let the lion hang around and gnaw on us for awhile?

We can control what we say...do you really have to bite back at someone who took a potshot at you? I find it particularly hard to control a response when someone snipes at me in the name of humor - and others laugh. I'm getting better at it now though and I realize it says something about them that they feel the need to say it - and something about me, if I can't resist biting back.

We can control the people we associate with...sometimes we need to distance ourselves from people who don't make us feel very good about ourselves - or even about the world we live in.

We have some control over our physical well-being. Even if we are facing some challenges, we know what we should be eating and doing to at least keep those challenges in check.

We can control what we put into our minds...I do miss some news once in awhile, but I have found that shutting out much of what the media screams about the loudest (which, you gotta admit is usually the negative stuff and something I can do nothing about) helps me to stay on a positive course.

So, what do you need to gain control over? Your thoughts? Your tongue? The people you spend time with? Your physical well-being? What you are putting into your mind?

Whatever it is, you can do it...but it does take awareness and...focus.

So go ahead - be a control freak! And I mean that in the nicest way :-)

Blessings,
Linda
Linda@LindasWorkshops.com
www.LindasWorkshops.com