May 5, 2020
Always The Write Time
Life Hacks
2020, change, COVID-19, creativity, crisis, detour, goals, grit, habits, inconvenience, inner resolve, lack, mindset, pause, pivot, plenty
As I mentioned in my post, “Another way to look at the pandemic ‘pause,’” I’m discovering new things about myself since 2020 took a major detour. While much becomes ingrained in our habits and thought processes simply because “that’s the way I’ve always done it,” the current COVID-19 climate has required a mandatory “pivoting” of our mindsets. One shining example: When my daughter’s gym temporarily closed due to the social-distancing order, it crushed her. Although she knew it afforded a minor inconvenience overall, she dreaded a derailment of her fitness goals. However, after a short-lived pity party, she soon realized that everything she needed to maintain her daily practice stared her in the face. In fact, she recently conquered—and exceeded—her goals. But not without inner resolve, a dash of creativity and a boatload of fierce grit. I couldn’t be prouder of her. It’s heartening how a global crisis can reveal the best within us. If we let it.
Where have you discovered plenty amidst the lack?
Image courtesy of cooldesign at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
April 19, 2016
Always The Write Time
Happiness
beauty, blessings, blinders, faith, Gretta Brooker Palmer, happy, kindness, lack, loss, opportunity, pity party, self
When the familiar ache in my heart warns me a self-inflicted pity party might be in progress soon, I remind myself of the truth in Gretta Brooker Palmer’s quote about how making someone else happy serves to sprinkle joy into our own lives. A backwash of blessings, if you will. Mary, the woman I write about in ‘The secret to a happy life,’ whose partner withholds communication and touch on a regular basis, has taught me much about removing self from the equation. To take what I’m missing in my life and turn loss into an opportunity to pick myself up for the umpteenth time, dust off the ashes and allow my faith to create beauty in the lives of those around me. The hardest part is keeping our gaze fixed ahead of us, rather than focusing inward on our lack. Just for today, let’s discard our metaphorical blinders and do something kind for someone else. I guarantee we’ll both feel better.
How can you change your focus?
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
February 7, 2013
Always The Write Time
Author, Editing, Nontraditional College Graduate, Publishing, scribes @ ASU, Uncategorized, Writing
commitment, edify, lack, moderation, plenty, Raffi, value-added
[Image credit: Stuart Miles]
There’s an old Raffi tune my daughter and I sang when she was little: I am slowly going crazy, 1-2-3-4-5-6 switch, crazy going slowly am I 6-5-4-3-2-1 switch. Sometimes I’ll still mutter the song to myself as I flit from one commitment to another. I’ve said it before — that remaining busy helps keep my mind in the present. It encourages me to not dwell on lack but focus on plenty. But if you know me, I typically don’t do anything halfway. Which means moderation is a challenge. I’m working on that one by picking and choosing value-added activities, rather than simply filling my days with “stuff.” This means pursuing interests and relationships that edify and add to, rather than tear down and take away from. Saying yes to those things that fill the depleted areas in my life and no to the things that aren’t worth my time or energy. That way, going a little crazy can be a fun thing.
Does your crazy need to be re-evaluated?
Always The Write Time Blog 