What inspires me?

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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Why aren’t people smiling?

IN SHORT DEMAND – SMILES.

 Who smiles these days?

We spent Saturday in the Magic Kingdom to celebrate my granddaughter’s thirteenth birthday. It was also the fortieth birthday celebration for the Magic Kingdom! As you might imagine, there were huge crowds, much like the holidays. It was our intent to leave early, as we had spent prior day at the park with our son and his girlfriend, celebrating her birthday!

Instead of hitting rides with the kids, we opted to wait and engage in some good old fashioned people-watching. There we were, in one of the happiest places in the world, and hardly anyone was smiling! The main intent of the masses seemed to be rushing from one ride to another, missing nothing; get their money’s worth, I suppose. Hardly anyone made eye contact, and when they did, eyes quickly darted off toward an assumed destination. Very few were smiling; many little ones were outright crying!

I took the time to chat with a ‘cast member’. She was smiling! I guess it’s their job to smile, but not everyone in costume sported a big grin! When my grandchildren and their parents returned from their ride, they had big smiles when they saw the fast passes we had collected for them! Kids don’t like to stop for anything when it comes to having fun, but they were amiable enough to have lunch; no big smiles but no frowns either. I’ll take that as a win!

When concentrating, the corners of my mouth go down, which is quite unfortunate as I have a great smile! For all intent and purpose, it would appear that I’m frowning! When a good friend brought that to my attention, I was horrified! It takes a concerted effort for me to make sure I’m not frowning when listening intently to anyone. I have to think about smiling! Even when I’m having a good time, I sometimes have to tell my face!

At church this morning, most people were not smiling, but our good pastor, Father Tony Quinlivan delivered a humorous sermon and by the end of it, many had smiles on their faces. After church, we hit the local Wal-Mart and as you probably are guessing, no smiles there either. It was really busy too! Grocery aisles were jammed and no one wanted to move. When someone allowed me through, I’d smile and say, “thank you.” A few returned a cursory smirk but no big grins or intelligible “your welcomes.” I wonder if I can really make a difference.

I know that if nothing changes, nothing changes. Now that I’m more aware of it, I’m going to make a real effort to smile, greet people and make sure my face exhibits that I’m enjoying life. Maybe you’ll try too. If enough people really do make an effort, in time we may become a smiling society!

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Spiritual tip of the day ~ Find the good in every challenge!

Mothers and Daughters uid 745832My Pollyanna was in high gear yesterday. It is sometimes challenging, but I try to find something good in everything. And it can often be a spiritual experience!

I had several appointments in Orlando. I have a really cute pair of white Capri’s but don’t I wear very often, because they are a perfect fit – so perfect that sometimes they are too tight!

Well, I had a notion to wear them yesterday and they stretched out! Now they’re comfortably loose. I came downstairs in them and my husband said, “Wow!” Nothing like a compliment from my hubby to make me feel like a million bucks.

I had several errands in Orlando, the first a lunch appointment. I had a mishap with the white pants on the way … my car was burglarized some weeks back and the police dusted it for fingerprints. That black powder gets into everything. I thought I had it all out … wrong! There I was, walking into the restaurant looking like I forgot to do the laundry. Drat!

So after lunch, I called Dave and explained my dilemma. He suggested that I go buy a new pair of pants, so I headed to a favorite store, where I know they regularly have 70% off racks. I not only found a beautiful pair of slacks (in safe black!), but also five really fantastic tops and spent … are you ready?

$67.29 … Now THAT is a spiritual experience for sure!

I am the QUEEN of bargains!  Lots of  good came out of that little challenge. Later, at home, it took some hand spotting and two runs through the washer, but I got the black spots out of the white pants too! I’m grateful, because I really like those britches!

In my morning rushing to get out of the house, I forgot my packed dinner in the fridge. I weigh and measure most of my meals. For those of you who are new to my blog, I’ve lost over one hundred pounds and have maintained it for nearly seventeen years. (http://www.trustGodandbuybroccoli.com)

Not to worry, I had time to slip into Whole Foods and order what I needed from the deli, and enjoyed some things I don’t normally fix for myself. But geeze, $17 to get what I needed. That was almost double my lunch in a Chinese restaurant! It sure tasted good though.

The next two appointments were fantastic. I met up with another author whom I haven’t seen in at least a dozen years. She looks fantastic and her life is a total success story. We both were struggling back in the nineties and now we both are success stories. It was a great reunion. A bonus; her mother was a good friend but I lost contact with her. I’ll also be reuniting with her soon.

Next, off to the book store where I met my new web designer who’s going to give my website a facelift. She and I agreed to some ideas and now I’m really excited. Over the weekend, my task will be to prepare the content for the new pages and we are off and running. So stay tuned for the grand unveiling in the near future!

It was a great day, even with the spots on my pants and the expensive dinner. We can always find either the worst or the best in everything. Call it Pollyanna, but the positive spin can turn even the worst nightmares  into a spiritual phenomena!

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Spiritual Tip of the Day – Friendship

Hunnee Bunnee and me!

Hunnee Bunnee and me!

You can always tell a real friend: when you’ve made a fool of yourself, he doesn’t feel you’ve done a permanent job. (Laurence J. Peter)

Having a good friend is truly a spiritual experience. There have been many people who have brightened my life with their friendship, but I also am truly blessed to enjoy a friendship with my sisters, which crosses the bond of blood ties to BFF (best friends forever,  for those of you without kids).

Our bond grew stronger during the last two weeks, as my father was hospitalized with blocked arteries. My closest-in-age sister was torn between tending to our mother (who cannot be left alone due to dementia) and seeing her youngest son graduate from Marine tech school. I had a plane ticket for ten days later, but changed it to come up and help with our folks so Joanne could see her son graduate. I’d do that again in a heartbeat; Joanne goes beyond sisterhood. She’d do the same for me.

Our youngest sister, Sandy came up and joined us for the weekend. In-between visits to my father, we visited and even had a pajama party with our mother. What fun! Both are phenomenal women and I am honored to call them sisters and friends.

I cannot leave out my two best friends, Hunnee Bunnee and Glori-Be.

Hunnee Bunnee taught me to love unconditionally. Every time I am with her, it is a celebration of friendship. I watch how she treats people and it makes me want to be just like her. I am a better person because of her.

My good friend Glori-be teaches me tenacity. She trudges forward in her life, despite work and health challenges, and is quick to ask what she can do for me. May I learn to put others before myself as this friend does.

That’s the spiritual part of friendship – recognizing the talents and character assets of our friends who love us unconditionally. Our bond transcends character flaws, and make it safe to just be ourselves.  Who could ask for more in life?

Do you have a friend who impacts your life in a special way?

Here are some interesting articles on Friendship

http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/06/18/in-defense-of-best-friends/?icid=main|htmlws-main-n|dl8|link4|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.politicsdaily.com%2F2010%2F06%2F18%2Fin-defense-of-best-friends%2F

http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200303/20030301_friends.html

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