“Monday Motivation!”

Wanting to be someone else is a waste of the person you are.
~ Kurt Cobain

Isn’t is hard enough to be yourself without trying to be someone else? And Kurt Cobain was right – what a waste.  You are probably a great person and when you are trying to be someone else you are not able to be you!

And you are probably not that good at being someone else cause it’s just not natural.

Again, you are not that good at being someone else so you aren’t being good at being you cause you aren’t being you so, helllllo, everything is all messed up!

So the moral of the story?  Just be yourself.  It is the only choice that makes sense.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

“Monday Motivation!”

We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

~ Anais Nin

I never realized the truth in that statement.  It reminded me of the day my sister passed away.  My world as I knew it changed forever.  I was devastated yet as I was driving through town people were milling about and going about their business like nothing happened!  They were running errands, going to the post office, grocery shopping, like everything was normal.  How could that be?  Didn’t they know!  It was an eerie feeling.  The world was stopped and in limbo.  We should stop and regroup, figure things out, what were we going to do now.  That didn’t happen.  I didn’t understand.

Our current trauma is my grandson’s battle with cancer.  Everyone in the world knows about Drake and his battle, right?  They must know, it is so consuming.  Childhood cancer is rare, we live in a small town, everyone chats.  They know all the detail.  How would anyone not know the life and death situation of this little baby.  Even the people in my extended circle or especially the people in my extended circle.  Again, nope.  I am amazed.

Yeah, I know, the world does not revolve around me.  I don’t expect everyone I know to have all the details of my life.  I really don’t.  We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.

What about me?  The verdict is in – guilty.  I tend to live in my own little world and I guess you can say that about most people.

My world is a world without drugs, crime, violence etc.  Those things happen to other people in other places.  Fortunately, I do live in a low crime rate area.  However, apparently there is enough of a drug problem in our area to warrant a whole court division known as “drug court”.  Not only has the court system developed this separate division to deal with this problem, it is always over booked and yet meets once a week!  How can that be?

How can it be that I don’t see things as they are?  Sort of feels kind of eerie.  Am I that unaware of my surroundings?  That’s probably not good.  Is it possible that I just see things as I am?

Toodles – Blog Happy!

“So much to do, so little time!”

I don’t know who coined that phrase but “ain’t that the truth?!” It has been so long and so much has happened during my blogosphere absence!  I miss the fantasy world of the internet.

My only real focus:

As many of you know, my grandson is once again fighting the battle of and for his life!  Every time I actually say that out loud I could scream and kick and throw something.  Yeah, pretty much a tantrum.  I am certainly not beneath acting out that way but when the feeling strikes it seems I am usually not in the opportune place to display or vent my anger.  For those of you who are not familiar Drake’s journey and are interested you can start with this story.

Where to begin?

I was working two jobs for most of April.  I was trying to wrap up a few things, train the new assistant all the while I was setting up the new system at the new office.  One of my very good friends left the law firm he had been a partner in for a few years to start his own law office and asked me to come along and be a part of his adventure!  It has been very interesting to say the least.  The prior law office that I worked with dealt primarily with real estate and elder law.  The new law firm concentrates in criminal, civil, personal injury, malpractice, family law and employment law.  Never a dull moment!

And Then?

Halle Lynn Gratton made her entrance into the world on May 6, 2009!  She weighed in at 8 lbs 9.8 oz and was 21 inches long.  She is so adorable.  And such a good baby.  I hesitate to say that out loud for fear of, I don’t know, speaking too soon.  All went well for the most part.  Mommy had plenty of complications throughout her pregnancy but at the end of the day, more like the end of a few weeks, every thing seems to be fine.  Danielle wouldn’t know what to do with herself if she didn’t have extreme stress.  I would like to actually see that for myself.  I can’t remember what kind of young lady she was before this ordeal.

More good stuff – My oldest daughter decided it was time for her to get married.  Thankfully, it was very low key, very relaxing and enjoyable.  It was a real pleasure to add hope and inspiration to our routine.

Oh, yes, there’s more!

Did I mention that my brother had a heart attack?  I truly can’t remember exactly when it (they) occurred.  He had a few stints put in, took some time off, got some meds and he’s good.  Thank you very much.  He had to get better to be here for his new grandbaby.  Our family has heart disease (not cancer).  Not to be outdone, my mom made a little side trip to the hospital this week.  I lose track of days but my husband also experienced an ER trip for chest pains.  Luckily (?) he had pulled a muscle.  I can’t make this stuff up!  My friends have always told me I should write a book.

Again my only real focus:

Drake has endured 6 rounds of chemo, bi-weekly doctor visits, daily shots and continues to be an inspiration to us all.  He is clearly amazing and this is not Granny bragging.  Just a fact.   He has been battling this demon (who will NOT win) since he was 10 months old with only a short reprieve.  Doctors, hospital and medicine is a way of life for him and all he has known.

Drake is scheduled for surgery for the extraction of his tumors on Monday, June 29, 2009.  I have so many thoughts and fears that I cannot speak.  Yet, at the same time, there are so many unknowns that I don’t even know what to fear.

I have decided to believe in miracles and will maintain a positive absolute attitude.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

____________________________________________________________________
“The thing always happens that you really believe in;
and the belief in a thing makes it happen….”

~ Frank Lloyd Wright
____________________________________________________________________

“2 Elements of Every Post”

What is one of the most important elements every post should contain?

Links:

Every post you write should have a link to one of your past posts.  In some circumstances you just have to toot your own horn!  The linked post should obviously related and pertinent to the topic discussion.

It gives you the opportunity to share some hidden posts that are still of interest and current.

If you follow this hint and tip you will be well on your way to increasing your blog traffic. Not only will you link to one of your posts but if you have added links to that post you will now be looking at sharing lots of your own posts with your readers.

What is the other most important element every post should contain?

Links:

Every post should contain a link to another blog, site, article, etc.  For a couple of reasons:

1. You are sharing your awesome discoveries with your readers.  Your readers usually appreciate that.  Most people like sharing!
2. Linking to other blogs or articles may get you noticed or at least appreciated.

I have been told, linking to other blogs or sites that have a high page rank helps with your own page rank.  Dan Scocco of DailyBlogTips wrote on post earlier this month on a google page rank update .

I enjoy linking to my past posts, rereading them and digging them out of the archives.  I also like sharing great finds I discover in the blogosphere.  So fellow bkoggers, get out there and share your stuff, share your finds.

Toodles – Blog Happy!

____________________________________________________________________
“Strive for excellence, not perfection…”
~ H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
____________________________________________________________________

“Monday Motivation!”

“He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”
~ Benjamin Franklin

Confession: I “stole” this quote from Happiness is better from one of  his “tweets”.

Have you ever noticed that there comes a time in your life when you turn into your parents?  You don’t see it coming.  In fact, you spend half of your young adult life trying to be completely different, the opposite.  Somehow it happens.  You don’t even see it coming.  You are in a  discussion and suddenly the conversation turns to those other people.  The “other” generation that is always messing things up.  You know the conversation (you’ve heard it before) starts out -  “when I was a kid”.  Kind of like “the good ole’ days”.

We reap what we sow

For the most part, the current generation is molded and sculpted by the immediate past generation.  The generation that is always complaining about the current generation.  In other words, we reap what we sow.  I remember being told that we had to be careful how we raised our children.  Everything we did or said would affect the outcome of this little persons life.  I was afraid to speak to my child.  What if I said the wrong thing?  What if they thought badly of themselves. Their whole life would be ruined!

We couldn’t scold them because we would squash their self esteem.  Competition wasn’t really that popular because there was always a winner and a loser and we wanted everyone to be a winner.  Yeah, don’t we all?  Welcome to reality.

Then there was the “encouragement” talk.  When something went wrong or didn’t go their way, it wasn’t their fault.  If it was their fault, they would feel bad and have low self esteem so it always had to be someone or something else to blame.

It’s time to be accountable

In any event, regardless of who is responsible for the molding and sculpting, there comes a time in every individuals life that personal responsibility becomes important.  Eventually, (hopefully) you will be accountable for your actions or inactions.  Most people want to be accountable for their success right?  Well the good comes with the bad, it’s that whole equal and opposite action and reaction theory thing going on.  You can’t have one without the other.  Either you are or you aren’t.

Some people spend more time and energy figuring out who or what to blame when things go wrong then time or energy figuring out how to correct or change something.   For the most part, what difference does it make?  Yeah, you need to evaluate what went wrong, take note and change direction.  The important part here is to “change” not complain.   I have always thought that if people spent as much time and energy on fixing or changing things as they did on making excuses they wouldn’t have time to notice the “poor me” attitude.  Please, just do something.

It just drives me crazy when people spend good time on nonsense. At the end of the day, is it really important who, what, when or why? Or is it really important that something was accomplished or successful or you even moved forward!

Toodles – Blog Happy!