Today has been full of challenges.

Tonight you can rest knowing you met them.

Whoa, Nellie! This day started off on a dead run, and my engines were on about a bazillion RPMs before I even knew what hit me. But it was a great day, and now it’s time to let the engine cool a little…

How about you?

Satisfactorily tired?

Rest a while.

Recover.

Tomorrow’s another day.

The best thing about being a mom is watching your kids grow up to be truly decent human beings. The worst thing about being a mom is when you reach the stage where you’re no longer able to fix the hurts and ‘boo-boos’ of life. I’d “volunteer in tribute” to take on those hurts, but it doesn’t work that way. So when your kids’ huge, loving hearts are breaking, or if they’re just dealing with adult frustrations we all have processed somewhere along our paths, pretty much all you can do is empathize, hold a hand, and be a listening ear. For these two, I’ll hold hands and listen till they can’t talk anymore. It’s an honor and a privilege.

The beauty of a gray day

is that the colors of spring

become more vibrant than ever.

Stop disparaging. Spread respect.
Stop marginalizing. Spread inclusion.
Stop despair. Spread hope.
Stop animus. Spread peace.
Stop hate. Spread love.

Remember the power of ONE to make a change in the world.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

A-W-E-S-O-M-E,

You’re smile’s so bright I can barely see!

You’re awesome!

Yeah, yeah, you’re awesome!

Anyone who knows me well knows I love spinning a yarn, whether it’s from personal experience or just made up out of some notion that passed through my corpus callosum traveling from one hemisphere of the ‘TK brain’ to the other. Lately I’ve been trying to focus more on casting some positivity out into the world, hoping I’d land a fish who needed to hear it. I think my Pollyanna Syndrome started in response to all the negative we see and hear on the news and in social media. It got me to thinking about what I would say to my kid self if I had the opportunity…

“Theresa, you’re not pretty. And guess what? It’s gonna get worse. You can’t stop it. And all your pretty friends are going to go through the same process you will. None of you have the power to control it unless you spend eighty bazillion dollars at the plastic surgeon’s office, so get over it.

You do have the power to change what people see, though. And for that, you’ll need smarts, a sense of humor, and humility.

Learn all you can. You don’t have to be Albert Einstein’s sister, but use every ounce of gray matter in that brain. Be curious about the world. Read something other than Teen Beat. Watch something on TV besides sitcoms. None of that crap is real, anyway. Study hard at whatever you choose as your vocation. Concentrate on educating yourself about things that are not part of your work life, too. Watch a documentary. Read history books. Visit museums and take in concerts, and not just one kind of music.  Absorb it all and savor it. It will give you confidence about your own place in the world. It will make you a better conversationalist. And because you’re interested in other humans, you’ll be better able to empathize with them and their own struggles. People worth knowing won’t care about your face when you have something interesting to say or an open heart to listen.

Laugh a lot. Laugh at yourself, laugh at the world. Life’s too short to be so serious all the time. Skip the drama. It’s an energy-suck. If you know that early enough, you can improve your resilience. Never laugh at anyone. Always laugh with them. Remember, you could be the next roast rotating over the spit.

That brings me to humility. Know your worth, but don’t inflate it. Remember to be the first to give credit to someone else when things go good and the first to take the blame when things go wrong on your watch. Yes, be confident, but keep a humble heart.

So that’s the bulk of it. Smarts, humor, humility. You can do it.

Keep lifting others up, even when people call you Pollyanna . You always wanted to be a cheerleader, so be one. Heck, for this, you don’t even have to do the splits. Bonus!”

I like to think I would have listened…

HEY!

You didn’t get all those gray hairs by sitting back

letting life lead you along on a leash.

You got them from attacking the day,

Giving life all you’ve got.

And those wrinkles?

Maybe some are from worry,

But I bet they’re mostly from smiles.

Keep fighting. Keep smiling.

You’re beautiful!

It’s Monday – the week begins full of peril and promise.

Someone, somewhere is…

• wondering if their child will live or die.
• snarled in traffic and late for the office.
• caring for a parent who no longer recognizes them.
• wondering if they have the energy to make a relationship work.
• sweating over their tax return.

But then, someone, somewhere is…

• putting their kids on the bus with a hug.
• bringing in donuts for the crew.
• taking their mom out for a day of shopping.
• planning to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.
• sweating over their tax return.

It’s Monday – the week begins full of peril POWER and PROMISE.

This tree…interesting patterns, huh? I saw this tree at the local park and it reminded me that we have patterns in our lives to some degree. Whether it’s at work or with our family, there are some rhythms to life that we likely have in common with one another. Here’s my thought for the day: It’s okay to not follow the pattern. It’s okay to break into a new rhythm. Doing so keeps life fresh and interesting, so let’s go! Start your engines, people!

Peace.