Make the right choice

Life is full of choices. God's greatest gift to us was free will. Every morning we wake up, we have a choice. We can rise out of bed with a positive attitude ready to greet the day and take on whatever it throws our way. Or we can drag ourselves out with negativity and obstanance with a heart full of resentment and anger.

God has given us a wonderful place to live and grow. He has provided us with sunshine and beautiful scenery and opportunities to fullfill our inner most dreams if we only put forth the effort. People who fall off the horse and don't get back on are doing themselves a HUGE injustice. Not wanting to try and get back up on the horse is a cop out.

How many times do you think Thomas Edison failed before he saw that "bright light" for the first time? How many times do you think the Wright Brothers crashed before they finally got their air craft off the ground. Those people are people that got up every morning DECIDING to face the day and make it the best they possibly could. Those kinds of people are the winners. The losers are the ones that gripe and complain about how bad their world is and what other people are or aren't doing.

If you've ever attended Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, he talks about your Circle of Influence. Only worry about things you can control. Don't waste your energy on the things you can't. Wake up in the morning with Zest!! Because, remember, you DID wake up!! And that should be enough to get you off on the right foot.

50 is great

I was thinking while walking into work this morning of how great it is to be of an age where I am free of all the social pressures our youth face today. I now have the freedom to wear what I want without wondering if it's "in style" or not. Now, I'm not saying that I don't enjoying wearing the latest trends and styles. BUT if I chose to wear my hair up in a banana clip or wear leggins with my skirt and tennis shoes, I'll do it! And I'll walk with pride not caring who is staring or snickering behind my back. It is an enormous feeling of freedom to be able to put on what you feel like in the morning and with or WITHOUT makeup and still feel beautiful and confident. I feel I've earned this and I hope the youth of today can experience this feeling, too, and hopefully before they are 50 years old. Be independent, confident, not afraid to be different and PROUD of it!!

A loyal and special friend

She was my rock. A bright pair of golden brown eyes and wagging tail to look forward to at the end of the day. She never asked for much....just a few treats (a day) ha!... some water & food and a scratch behind the ears. We understood each other. Well we should have after 15 years. I knew her longer than my husband or kids. She was always there for me if I was down or depressed. She would sit and listen as I rubbed her soft fur and talked to her about my problems. We spent a lot of time together and I taught her a lot of tricks. She was a smart dog. I swear she knew what I was saying 75% of the time.

Well, her time came to an end this last week. She was old (well over a 100 in people years) and tired. I had the difficult choice of deciding whether to put her to sleep or try and prolong the enevitable a few more days. I decided I owed her peace and comfort. I could not prolong her life (or what life she would have....not much since she couldn't get up anymore to eat or go to the bathroom) just to satisfy my own selfishness. I owed her more especially after everything she had given me.

She will always be in my heart. She was a special dog and for those of you that have had them, you know exactly what I mean. She is now resting peacefully in the same location that she used to lay and watch the traffic, the lake and our cattle out in the pasture. She is at peace and I'm sure she will be waiting for me at the Rainbow Bridge when my time comes. Goodbye Brandy. I love you and miss you. And I will never ever forget you.

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.
Attitude, to me, is more important than facts...It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, then failures, than success, than what other people think or say or do.
It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill.
It will make or break an organization - a school - a home.
The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.
We cannot change our past - We cannot change the fact that people will Act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one String we have.
And that is our attitude - I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you -

- Charles Swindoll