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What inspires me?

October 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

What inspires me? Sometimes I’ll wake up a little achy. You know, a little arthritis, some sore muscles from a new exercise. But after watching this video about Emmanuel Kelly, I’ll think twice before complaining. Emmauel Kelly was abandoned by his parents – left in a shoe box in Bagdad. He and his brother were born without arms and legs, resulting from chemical warfare. He was adopted, raised in Melbourne, Australia and is living what could be described as a normal life today; as normal as it could be for someone who’s had such a rough start at life.

I’m also inspired by Jana Waring. A downtown Orlando resident, Jana is known and loved by everyone she meets. Her life drastically changed through an injury. She once told me that although she is confined to a wheel chair, whether or not to live life happy was a choice and she chooses to be happy. And just being around her makes me happy too.

While life has not dealt him a blow, Sean Anderson also is my hero. His first book Transformation Road-My Trip to Over 500 Pounds and Back will be released by late November. I ‘met’ Sean when AOL picked up his blog, a daily diary he kept on his journey from 505 lbs to a healthy body weight!  He just employed practical eating habits and gave up the massive amounts of calories that it takes to achieve morbid obesity.

Sean continues to  inspire thousands of people every day, with his blog and daily inspirations on Facebook. By the way, Sean has lost his weight the conventional way – eating less; no bypass surgery

When people like Emmanuel, Jana and Sean touch our lives, we have a choice to just go on as we are, or strive to be the very best person we can be. I just want to get out of my cheap little self and do something, make a difference, help someone. I don’t want to settle for mediocrity. I want to be the very best I can be.

What inspires you?

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Dream Big ~ Dream Interesting!

December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dream BIG ~ Dream INTERESTING!

A few weeks back, I planted an avocado seed in a pot. I’ve thrown a lot of avocado seeds away in my day, but I guess they deserve a chance for a new beginning too, eh?

I watered it dutifully and waited. Nothing happened for about ten days, maybe even two weeks.

Then the day came where something other than dirt greeted the watering can; a little tiny stick of a thing popping up out of nowhere! The following day, I swear that little nub doubled in size! A week later, I’m looking at a scraggly foot-tall stick with the beginnings of what looks like leaves on the top.

So, now what?  This is my first venture into avocado propagation – do I trust trial and error or do some research? A quick Google leads me several articles and I discover what to do when the shoot is six or seven inches tall.  I need to cut it down 50%. Oh no! I’m too late by three inches! But having nothing to lose, I’m going to follow the directions. The article says that it should sprout out again and then I’m directed to plant it outside where it could be as big as sixty-nine feet! Or, if it stays in the pot, it could be an interesting house plant.

This whole ordeal really parallels to life. I have choices- YOU have choices! – To be as big as we can be, or maybe not so big, but interesting.  Maybe both!

I’ve really made some dramatic changes in my life over the last five years, and even more this past year. What do I want to do in 2011? Dream big? Dream interesting?

What will I do with that dream? If I take no action, that dream will just stay an old avocado seed and that’s that.

I haven’t picked the date yet, but I’m going to call a bunch of my girlfriends to see if they want to get together to create vision boards for 2011. We’ll get all messy – glue sticks, magazines, cardboard, and let our seeds of a dream take root, sprout and become something.

 Maybe something big.

Maybe something interesting.

Maybe both.

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Things are not always as they seem!

October 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I was cooking yesterday, making a big pot of my delicious black bean chili so that Dave has some stuff to eat while I’m in Nashville this weekend. As a rule, I don’t measure spices, kind of just dump them in. Well, I reached for the chili powder, made a few generous passes over the crock pot and realized it wasn’t chili powder, but nutmeg.

Oh geeze, now what? My first thought was to dump it down the drain – all that ground beef, several cans of black beans, and the rest of it. I was truly agitated with myself, inspiring negative self-talk; “You stupid idiot!” I would never speak to anyone the way I sometimes speak to myself.

I calmed down, and wondered how much damage a little nutmeg could cause. What would it hurt to let it simmer in the crock pot and let Dave taste it later (I’m on the no-BLT’s plan – no bites, licks or tastes)?

So, when he came home from his part time job at Disney, Dave lifted the lid on the crock pot, smelled the chili and asked for a bowl! I accommodated him, not mentioning my screw up with the spices. So there he was, a little after midnight, chowing down, raving about how it was the best chili I had ever made. Chuckling, I shared my nutmeg saga. He suggested that I add it to all future chilis!

So there you go. My famous black bean chili will have an opportunity to be even more famous for it’s new secret ingredient, so don’t tell anyone! It could have used a little more jalapeno pepper. I always err on the side of conservative with the hot stuff!

Had I followed my first negative inkling and pitched the chili, we’d never have known what good could come from a seemingly bad situation. I learned something yesterday – things aren’t always what they seem and what may look like a negative in the moment, could be a positive just waiting to happen!

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Fairy Tales Can Come True!

September 29, 2010 By Leave a Comment

a5 a5 on road to make believe uid 79064Fairy tales can come true,

They cay happen to you,

If you’re young at heart …

Are you old enough to remember that tune? Does youth have anything to do with it?

With age, I feel less inclined to take the risks that accompany fairy tales. You know, the Snow White stories where she takes care of all those elves before Prince Charming finally comes along and rescues her. I am ready for the rescue-part but taking care of eight short guys? I don’t think so.

Placing old feet on the floor in the morning, and then kneeling on creaking knees to pray takes a bit more effort than it did even five years ago. The distance between fifty-six and sixty-one is much greater than twenty-six to thirty-one. I still would like to be part of the fairy tales in life! I’m not too old for that.

I read an article about Warrick Dunn - http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/08/21/warrick-dunn-making-dreams-come-true/.  He played football for the Tampa Bay Bucs and then the Atlanta Falcons. Now there’s a man who makes fairy tales come true! He started a foundation to help people buy homes, who otherwise couldn’t afford it. He’s made 99 fairy tales come true so far!

While I don’t have money to start a foundation like Warrick Dunn, what fairy tales could I help to make happen? It doesn’t have to be on a grand scale. Right here at home, I can do something nice for my husband, who is still in a cast from breaking his wrist last month. I know, I’ll fix his favorite dinner – a hamburger and French fries! There is always an opportunity to be giving to another, when we look for them.

Perhaps that the secret to staying young at heart, making fairy tales come true for others.

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