Grindstone........

Word of the Day....

Grindstone....n.,......work/action not pleasurable.

Monday...back to the Grindstone.  Week end over,  five days of work ahead.  Ugh!!  But does it really have to be a big UGH? I don't mean the the five days of work.  I mean the Grindstone attitude.  What if we viewed Monday as a day of setting the stage? Renewed energy...renewed purpose..another day of the gifts of life, friends, family, touching others in an encouraging way.  What if there was no Monday?   Would Tuesday be your Grindstone day?  Life is not about having a Grindstone attitude.  Life is about taking each day..whichever it may be and making it count in a positive, hopeful and powerful way!  You're not promised tomorrow or another hour or minute.  Throw out your GRINDSTONE Grimace.  Attitude is contagious...pass one a great one!!

Nurture

Word of the Day.......

Nurture...v.,......to support and encourage

So on this Mother's Day weekend I choose to make our word nurture.  If you are a mother, there is no other feeling like the joy, the privilege, the ability to nurture your children. We nurture them every day even when they are old enough to be on their own.  We nuture them every day even when we really don't feel like it.   We nurture them every day even when we need nurturing ourselves.We nurture them because it is an instinct that is undeniable.   Sometimes nurturing is happiness, sometimes it is sadness, sometimes it is having the strength to do what's right when it's much easier to do what's wrong. We all nurture in different ways because we HAVE BEEN nurtured in different ways.  Just know, when God gave you those souls, He intended you to nurture them.  It is an honor beyond measure.

Calliope

Word of the Day.....

Calliope...n., a musical instrument fitted with steam whistles played with a keyboard.

Calliope...just one of those wonderful sounding words.  Rolls off the tongue with lightness.  It's a happy word.  Doesn't it just sound joyful when you say it?  Images of circuses, carnivals, cotton candy, peanuts and jugglers dance to the sound of the word CALLIOPE.  It's an emotion, an attitude, a Friday kinda word.  Say it out loud 5 or 10 times.  Bet your smiling!  Have a CALLIOPE day Guys and Dolls.

Here We Go......

Word of the Day....

Agenda..n.,...matters to attend to.

What's on your AGENDA today?  Meetings? Luncheons? Jobs? More meetings? Scurry here...scurry there.  Be busier than everybody else because why? It looks good?  It's required to be successful?  It's just the way things are?  I hate to disagree, but I DISAGREE.  I know, I know...you have a job,you have kids, you have commitments, you have, have, have.  Don't be on AGENDA overload.  How do you enjoy one minute of an overloaded day?  Don't pass on that legacy to your kids.  I don't think we are intended to let 'busy' control our days.  Did you miss that butterfly that sailed past your head?  Did you miss that faint smell of honeysuckle on that fence?  Did you miss a friend's need to just chat for a second?  Did you miss your child just wanting a second of your time?  Don't let 'busy' define you.  Stop it!!

Imagine......................

The dictionary defines imagine as.............to form a mental image of something not present.  Imagine what the world would be like if Dr Seuss hadn't imagined.....or the Brothers Grimm....or J.R Tolkien.  If Frank Baum had not given us Oz, or if J.K. Rowling had never imagined Harry Potter?  Do you imagine troubles that aren't there?  Do you imagine criticisms that were never spoken.  Do you imagine big dark scary things that lurk around and never materialize.  Why not imagine great accomplishments, or love or hidden riches in your life?  Take that ability you have to imagine and make it work for you.....not against. you.  I imagine that the world is a much better place than we can ever imagine.

Whispers that Matter.....

My Word of the Day on FB is Whispering.  Speaking sofltly, lowly, without volume.  Does it make sense to you that there are whispers all around us every minute of every day?  Right now the rain is whispering outside my window.  And while that is very obvious, there are those underlying whispers that I have to really stop and pay attention to.  But I daresay that most of the time we are too busy and/or self important to listen to those whispers and because of this we miss a lot.  Maybe our conscience is whispering about something we should or shouldn't do, maybe our God is whispering His love or instruction and we don't hear it, maybe a loved one is somehow whispering their need and we miss that.  I think there is a whole world of whispering that underlies the noise of life.  And if we don't make time and effort to hear it, then we're missing things that are life changing.  Think about it and while you do, be quiet and listen to your life's whisperings.

Mask.....................

The dictionary defines a mask as a face covering.  Think Mardi Gras....Halloween.  But I'm going to say that we all have masks that cover way more than our faces.  We have Life Masks.  What masks do you hide behind?  And here is the very tricky part.  Do you even know or WANT to know your own masks?  Control, money, perfectionism, jealousy, self-rightousness, cheating, envy, greed......these are all masks that we allow to cover our true identity.  And worse......steal our joy.  Just think for a moment if you dropped some of your masks....allowed yourself some freedom.  Admitted to yourself life masks were making you mieserable...put yourself out there as just yourself.  I'm going to say that the very rigid box we sometimes find around ourselves in would begin to soften, widen and become hazy.  Think about it.  And if you try it, let me know what happens!