SoCS: Kinder, Gentler Motivation

Today’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is starts with “u.” Find a word that starts with the letter “u” and use it however you’d like. Bonus points if it’s the first word in your post. Enjoy!

“Use it or lose it,” was the first thing I thought about after reading the prompt. I believe this is true, up to a point. There’s a fine line between use and overuse. With osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, scoliosis, plantar fasciitis, and heel spurs, I have to be careful and look for the right kind of use (exercise) without overdoing it. All those ailments sound like a lot, but they’re not that serious if I find the right self-care balance.

I’ve figured out that if I do my foot exercises (mostly flexing), wear shoes with lots of cushioning (love my Oofos) and don’t walk on pavement much, my feet are able to take me on walks around the neighborhood and maybe a little hiking in the woods or walking on the beach. If I overdo (overuse) my feet, I have to ice them and rest some.

The back balance between use and overuse is a little trickier. Regular exercise is important, but it’s easy to strain a muscle, especially doing yard work which I really enjoy. My daughter just started selling essential oils and I’ve found I love the Deep Blue stick which is a roll on with gentle cool/warmth instead of the burn of some popular topical analgesics. But enough on that. I don’t want to do a commercial.

Another motivational quote I’m reminded of is “What doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger.” That may be true up to a point. Stress can kill over time. Stress can cause stomach and other gastrointestinal problems, all kinds of physical problems over time. Cortisol…. you can look it up. A little stress is good. A little stress here and there does make us stronger if we learn how to cope. That applies to both physical and mental stress, but too much can kill us. Being in an unhealthy relationship or toxic job can take years off our lives. In 2016 I had been saying for years, “I’m not going to let this job kill me.” Thankfully I got out in 2017. Now, I’m healing, reclaiming those years.

The “motivational” quote I really hate is, “Go big or go home.” Maybe I’m hearing that wrong, but maybe I did good to just show up. Have you seen this on a T shirt? I want one.

Sorry I’m late.

I didn’t want to come.

So far, I’ve never actually said this out loud, but I must want to, because it’s so funny. It’s an introvert thing.

I no longer have to make A’s on my report card. Thank God I don’t have job evaluations anymore.

It’s okay if some people want to go big and excel at a sport, or job, or talent, but we don’t need to make ourselves sick or crazy. Sometimes, I’m on time. Sometimes I’m late. Sometimes I leave early. Sometimes I don’t go. Sometimes, I do.

Instead of “Go big or go home,” how about,

Be nice or go home.

Be nice or apologize.

Okay, you don’t have to be nice, just don’t be mean.

Play fair or take a time out.

I like time outs. I can carry a blanket in my car for time outs. Or I’ll go play with the dog. Any dog. Or the goats and chickens….

Here’s a video of me at Blueberry Lane Farm Animal Sanctuary with Delilah and Amos who I keep calling Simon, but doesn’t care. I showed up and brought him lunch.

There are 2 pigs, 3 sheep, 9 goats, 11 roosters and one hen at the sanctuary. The chickens have various levels of rehabilitation and housing. Amos has a foot handicap and currently lives with matriarchal goats, Delilah and Esther. He can see and crow with the other roosters.

Photos from my walks with Marley:

Our Neighborhood Park

pine seedling in stump

Marley

Hydrangea

For more on Stream of Consciousness Saturday, visit out host, Linda G. Hill by clicking HERE.

An Abundance of Possibilities

I’m dropping in for Just Jot it January today. I might not do this every day in January, but today is a day I feel like jotting. Our prompt for today comes from Janet, and it is the word: “abundance.” Thanks, Janet! Great word!

We have an abundance of wind here in the Carolinas. Some places, including Alabama, have an abundance of snow. I have an abundance of material things and told my daughter I didn’t want anything store-bought for Christmas, so she cleaned my bathroom! It was my favorite Christmas gift this year for sure!

Our host Linda indicated I could go back into my drafts for JJJ, so I came upon the piece below. Maybe I’ve shared this before, and maybe I haven’t, but either way, I believe it’s worth sharing again.

“For all of you who aren’t sure, it is possible to be gay and Christian.
It’s also possible to believe in God and science.
It is possible to be pro-choice and anti-abortion.
It is equally possible to be a feminist and love and respect men.
It’s possible to have privilege and be discriminated against, to be poor and have a rich life, to not have a job and still have money.
It is possible to believe in sensible gun control legislation and still believe in one’s right to defend one’s self, family, and property.
It’s possible to be anti-war and pro-military.
It is possible to love thy neighbor and despise his actions.
It is possible to advocate Black Lives Matter and still be pro police.
It is possible to not have an education and be brilliant.
It is possible to be Muslim and also suffer at the hands of terrorists.
It is possible to be a non-American fighting for the American dream.
It is possible to be different and the same.
It is possible to be spiritual and not follow a religion.
We are all walking contradictions of what “normal” looks like.
Let humanity and love win.”

(I found this on Facebook showing  it is possible to find something good on Facebook.)

All or nothing thinking divides us. The world is much more complex than black or white, or even gray. There are many more colors and color combinations. When we respect the gifts of our diversity, the world will become more beautiful.

Here’s wishing you an abundance of peace, joy, and possibility, in 2022! 

For more January jottings on abundance or other topics, visit Linda’s post by clicking this link: 

https://lindaghill.com/2022/01/03/daily-prompt-jusjojan-the-3rd-2022/

When Someone Says You Can’t Do Something, There Still Might Be a Way

Today’s SoCS prompt is, “oh.”

Oh, great. I wrote my post last night, and now it’s gone. Not in the trash, not already published. Oh, well. I get to start over. Seems like whenever I get a win, I also get something for humility. Or the balancing phenomenon can be good – the good thing after the bad – like in my 20s when my car would break down right before I got my income tax refund. This week the balance is in the realm of technology.

Maybe a month ago, I discovered I’d made a typo in the domain name for my art website. This discovery happened after I developed the website, published some posts, and had cards made up copying and pasting the incorrect domain name on the business cards. It was just one letter off. Instead of angelsmermaidsandwoodwork, I had angelsmermaidsandwordwork.  Word Work. Kinda funny actually. I shared my horror on Facebook. (I felt horrible about it. Why didn’t I catch that mistake? How could I have missed it?, etc. etc.) A couple of people suggested I buy the correct domain and re-direct. Let me back up a minute. I had first shared my horror with the support chat person for the hosting entity. He (his name sounded masculine to me) was polite, but not that supportive. He said/chatted that the domain name could not be changed. My stomach fell into the bog of misery. He didn’t offer any suggestions. To be fair, I had first asked him another question, so this was the second problem of that chat. So when FB friends had a remedy, I felt a ray of hope. But I was still bummed out and didn’t want to face another chat session.

After a couple weeks I looked into it wondering if I could do this re-directing thing myself. I bought the correct domain name, but got confused when it came to redirecting or maybe transferring? So I took a break. Then yesterday, I mustered up the courage to chat again with a support person for the host (which is not exactly WP but uses WP.) Guess what! She (the name sounded feminine) chatted that we could just change the name on the website to the new domain. What? The other guy said that could not be done.

I asked for clarification a couple of times. She made it sound simple and that she could do it in a click or two. Schedule it anyway.  What a relief after all that angst and misery about my little mistake. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but not much. I have to check it again to make sure it’s really correct. I held my breath before it came up. http://www.angelsmermaidsandwoodwork.com/  Plus I keep checking for typos. Guess I need to trust the process and take a deep breath. Not to mention putting more content on there. I’m thankful it worked out and that I have an ultra fine point marker to change the r to o on the business cards. Oh, well. The biggest lesson, besides balance happens, is that just because someone says it can’t be done, doesn’t mean it’s true. I was trying to find that quote about being annoyed by people telling you something is impossible while you’re doing it, but the quotes I did find about making mistakes made me realize that the first chat support person just made a mistake. That’s all. Oh well. I  guess everything works out eventually.

For more streams of consciousness, visit our wonderful host, Linda G. Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2019/10/18/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-oct-19-19/

Here are the rules:

1. Your post must be stream of consciousness writing, meaning no editing (typos can be fixed), and minimal planning on what you’re going to write.

2. Your post can be as long or as short as you want it to be. One sentence – one thousand words. Fact, fiction, poetry – it doesn’t matter. Just let the words carry you along until you’re ready to stop.

3. I will post the prompt here on my blog every Friday, along with a reminder for you to join in. The prompt will be one random thing, but it will not be a subject. For instance, I will not say “Write about dogs”; the prompt will be more like, “Make your first sentence a question,” “Begin with the word ‘The,’” or will simply be a single word to get you started.

4. Ping back! It’s important, so that I and other people can come and read your post! For example, in your post you can write “This post is part of SoCS:” and then copy and paste the URL found in your address bar at the top of this post into yours. Your link will show up in my comments for everyone to see. The most recent pingbacks will be found at the top. NOTE: Pingbacks only work from WordPress sites. If you’re self-hosted or are participating from another host, such as Blogger, please leave a link to your post in the comments below.

5. Read at least one other person’s blog who has linked back their post. Even better, read all of them! If you’re the first person to link back, you can check back later or go to the previous week by following my category, “Stream of Consciousness Saturday,” which you’ll find below the “Like” button on my post.

6. Copy and paste the rules (if you’d like to) in your post. The more people who join in, the more new bloggers you’ll meet and the bigger your community will get!

7. As a suggestion, tag your post “SoCS” and/or “#SoCS” for more exposure and more views.

8. Have fun!

Peace and Darth Vader

A stream of consciousness post from my sci-fi side:

Thanks to “Harsh Reality” for asking the question:

“Who else is tired of all the killing and would like a little peace?”

http://aopinionatedman.com/2014/09/12/the-daily-opinion-peace/comment-page-1/#comment-184976

One of his comments got me to thinking about whether an alien invasion would unite humanity and bring peace. It could, ultimately. But it would probably take a while, like when Darth Vader ultimately brought balance to the force as predicted. It just took a really long time for Vader to turn back into Anakin Skywalker and throw the evil emperor into the whatchamacallit. Luke believed his father could be saved when he said, “I know there is good in him. I have felt it.” He was right. But don’t let that keep you in an unhealthy or abusive relationship. Luke didn’t live with his crazy, bully of a father. He only visited long enough to trick the emperor into getting thrown to his death. (Luke had huge faith in the Force.) If Anakin had survived, his torment would have been hard to live with.

I found this touching video of the death of Vader/Anakin where he recalls happier moments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qruijbk6_VU

What I really like about this story is that while Anakin turning to the dark side brought despair instead of the balance the Jedi knights hoped for, this had to happen so that he could eventually kill the emperor many years later in order to save his son who saved him. Everything had seemed so wrong, but worked out right in the end.

So never give up hope. Speaking of which, let’s hope peace comes to our planet, without an alien invasion, unless it’s a invasion of logic from the Vulcans.

Has there been a time in your life when things seemed all wrong, but eventually worked out right?