Tag: #liveyourlife

You’re Not Failing

September 15, 2020September 15, 2020 · 7 Comments ·

I love the sound of the ocean. Looking at the expansive body of water, reminds me how big my God really is. The water rolls in with crashing force, but then playfully slips ashore. If you’re standing nearby, it will find your feet like it’s trying to get you to join in on the moment.

Thinking about waves reminded me of this meme I made years ago, and searched my computer until it was found. My daughter jokingly exclaims, “You were on LSD when you made that?” 🙂

No my darling, I was learning.

The program I use to make memes added new options overnight. What began as a black and white photo of my daughter became the explosion of color you see above. I added layer, upon layer of color and texture, just to see what the new buttons would do, but then ran into a problem. Once added, I couldn’t figure out how to remove it. I spotted a tiny little button that said, “Undo”, but saved this beforehand. It’s a reminder of how easily I can get caught up and swept away in a wave of options.

To this day I don’t see it as a failed meme.

I told my daughter, “What I see as a learning experience, someone else will love.” (Someone who thrives on color) The only failure from that day would be to stop making memes, and that didn’t happen. I’m not going to be intimidated by a bunch of buttons and neither should you my friend.

I saw this quote this morning and thank Craig Maloney for posting it. He has written an excellent post regarding failure that you can read here. Failure waits for us in the ‘not showing up’ for what life has to offer. Thank you for showing up here today. ~ Barb.

As long as you’re learning, you’re not failing.
Bob Ross

Keep Showing Up

July 10, 2020September 9, 2020 · 4 Comments ·

The Done List is so much more than getting things done. It’s saying yes to your heart more. It’s when you hear that still small voice give a reminder of what’s good for you.

I have access to a morning meditation via zoom, every morning at 9:00 am. I’ve attended before, and it was nice, but there’s one issue. I’m in the wrong zone in more ways than one.

It’s at 9:00 am to accommodate various time zones. The man I work with lives in CA, so by 9:00 am, I’m already planning what to do for him, before his day begins. (He’s pacific time, and I’m central.)

girl in green jacket holding potted plant — Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

I’m sitting quietly at the coffee table with coffee.

Looking up at the clock, it’s says 8:50 am, and I sense, “You should really sit in on that meditation.” All life really asks of us is to just show up. Otherwise, I’ll sit here and think of all the excuses not to, or put it off until tomorrow, so I joined in.

My Zen community is so peaceful, and serene, but I only lasted about 10 minutes. It’s just the wrong time of day for me to be fully present, but maybe I’ll get there. Disrupting patterns to make room for what the heart wants.

The heart knows even when we don’t.

I wrote it down on my done list, because I did the immediate thought. I listened to the heart, and followed through with no expected outcome. I was disappointed for a moment for not completing the mediation, but it’s progress, not perfection.

I was happy with myself for just showing up.

It’s uncertain if I’ll begin to thoroughly enjoy this 9:00 am community meditation, but I’m learning to live with the uncertainty. For what the heart wants, just keep showing up.

To Do Better

June 24, 2020June 24, 2020 · 5 Comments ·

I’m still going through, cleaning my archives. I’ve gone through 2014, 2015, 2016 and am on March 2017. I’ll share some thoughts once I’m done, but my best advice for now is…Don’t wait six years.

I took this meme out of an archived post to share with you. I went through a phase of using way to many memes in my posts. 😍

This morning called for a strong Chemex.

To have the Chemex, I had to tackle something new. Their square filter. I only have one regular filter left, but there’s an entire box of the square ones in the pantry. Why you might ask?

Because I never figured out how to use them.

This goes back to the whole ‘follow the instructions‘ thing. YouTube to the rescue.

The original Chemex filter is folded into a square. I always thought you had to unfold it to make it work. Now, there are some baristas who get really fancy with it, and refold it, but the Chemex is such a simple process, I knew this filter had to be simple as well.

It’s ridiculously simple.

You don’t unfold it at all. You simply separate the layers. Three layers on the spout, and one lays on the rest of the opening.

chemex

I’m not sure why I thought it was going to be difficult.

Maybe it’s like a lot of things in life. You don’t know until you know, but when we know better, we get to do better.

Feel the Music

July 9, 2019July 9, 2019 · 6 Comments ·

When my daughter first started driving, we lived in the country. There was no traffic unless she took a major highway to visit her Dad or friends.

She learned to take the back roads.

The advice I offered was, “Let as many people out as possible. If you see someone that needs to enter the lane in front of you, let them.” That’s good karma and it will come back to you.

Now we live where there’s lots of traffic. She was hesitant when she needed to pull out, but I told her, “Look for a truck. They will let you out.”

Especially a Chevy or Ford! 🙂

Y’all people drive pick up trucks.

My daughter shakes her head at how country I can be sometimes. She says I need to hide my crazy better, but it’s fun being a Y’all people.

A Marvelous Option

June 12, 2019 · 13 Comments ·

My daughter came home Monday to our front porch sprinkled with glitter. She’s concerned about leaving me alone on the weekends now. 🙂

I explained how it all started with her.

She was walking to her car and almost slipped off the front porch. It’s in the shade and becomes slippery after a rain. I made a note to fix it.

After she left, I noticed it was time to refill the hummingbird feeder. It had a little liquid inside, so I dumped it out. The sugar water splattered onto the porch, but once it dried it looked like glitter.

glitter

I went to a craft store and bought a can of clear spray glitter. That didn’t work out. Maybe it was a dud can, but the spray was clear with no glitter.

I went back to the store and bought glitter.

Just a container of it. Never knew there were so many options! Before my daughter arrived, I sprinkled it on the porch. Yes lovely, it’s magical!

glitterporch1