SoCS: Healthy Relationships and Dog Treats

 Our prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “how.” Use the word “how” in your post. Bonus points if you start your post with it. Enjoy! Thanks, Linda!

How to read a “how to” book:

1. If it’s a long book, skip to the chapter that actually tells you, how to.
2. If it’s a short book, go ahead and read through.
3. Come back to the other sections of the long book as needed.

That’s how I read a “how to book,” anyway. Maybe it’s not the best way, but that seems to work for me.

A short how to book that’s easy to read through would be my book, From Loneliness to Love, Five Steps for Finding a Healthy Relationship. (You can find it on the right sidebar.) And that’s all I’m going to say about that, unless I come back to it, because this IS after all stream of consciousness writing.

How to get up earlier: Go to bed earlier.

How to go to bed earlier: Turn off the TV.

How to turn off the TV: Push the off button.

How to push the off button: Set an alarm to tell you to. Nope. Not gonna do that.

How to get more exercise without hurting myself: Go to a physical therapist (appointment scheduled) and keep doing yoga, stretch regularly while watching TV and on the computer. Like right now….

How to strengthen a healthy relationship: Do fun stuff together.

David and I went to the beach last week. It was nice. We need to go more since it’s only 20 minutes away. I’m hoping we can walk the dog together in the evening, but he still needs more training to make it an enjoyable experience. (The dog needs more training, not so much David.)

I’ve been watching a lot of “how to” dog training videos and have scheduled a consultation with another trainer recommended by a friend. They use e-collars, though this is not required. At this point, I’m willing to give it a try since it’s a vibration I will try on myself first of course. If there was ever a dog that needed something like this, it could be Marley. His lunges make me worried concerned about things like shoulder dislocation. David has to wear his hand brace for several more weeks due to a Marley lunge.

Marley is making progress, but those squirrels still drive him crazy. A few days ago, there was a turtle or tortoise just on the other side of the fence minding its own business, and Marley went nuts over a turtle! He even barked at it, and he rarely barks. I was able to get the leash on him and get him to take some training treats for moving away from the turtle and get him back into the house. Fortunately, the turtle tortoise was not there when we went out back again. The videos I watch (from two different programs) use A LOT of training treats. So far, he still likes them.

I’ve been working hard in the backyard urban forest to get ahead of the vines and thin things out so I can keep an eye on Marley and hopefully nudge wildlife to move elsewhere. Oh! That reminds me, I learned at the farm animal sanctuary where I volunteer that hanging a paper bag up that looks like a wasp nest will discourage wasps from building nests. I need to put one on both of my porches.

Maybe I can find some related photos without going too far out of the stream.

Marley looking for squirrels

Marley’s idea of a stick.

He never gives up.

Mama Cat doesn’t see the squirrel above.

The tortoise looked similar to this one.

Playing with the just-washed cat litter box

Healthy Relationships include having fun together and recognizing strengths in spite of challenges. Marley is very sweet and well behaved in the house where there are no squirrels. He probably thinks I’m a nag for dragging him away from interesting things and not letting him eat the lantana or dig to China. But I’m the one with the training treats.

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To read more streams and find out how to join in, visit out host, Linda Hill HERE.

SoCS: The Pursuit of Happiness

Today’s Stream of Consciousness post is:

“hat/het/hit/hot/hut.” Choose one, choose ’em all, put ’em in your post. Enjoy!

What? I don’t know. Hut is interesting from a Gilligan’s Island frame of mind. They had a good thing on that island. There’s a song in my head that goes, “Gilligan, take my advice. Don’t try so hard to escape paradise.” Maybe I’ll look for it later. Maybe not. In reality, I don’t know that I’d really want to live in a hut. Maybe if there was a nice bed with a good mattress, and a toilet, and toilet paper, and plenty of mosquito netting. A luxury hut. That might work.

I had to look up “het.” Come to find out, it is short for heterosexual. That’s me. I’m a het. I guess. Still, there’s a lot of what they used to call, “tomboy,” in me. When I was looking for a soulmate, while trying to not look and trying to be cynical, I figured that if I found someone who was compatible, someone who brought me comfort and joy and met my criteria, like loving dogs, being respectful, etc., it would not matter if the person was male or female. Logically, I still think that way. But I always imagined myself with a male partner, and that’s what I got. Imagination is powerful.

During the lonely years. I used to watch a lot of NCIS and found Gibbs to be more attractive over time. My husband does look a little like Gibbs, but taller. I’m grateful. So grateful. Step 5 in my short short book, From Loneliness to Love is, “Imagine the Best.” That doesn’t mean perfect, but perfect for what we need to grow and be happy. Reasonably happy.

Reasonably happy. Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Pursuit of Happyness is a great movie for Father’s Day. It’s based on a true story of a homeless father, played by Will Smith, who with heartbreaking perseverance, eventually gets a job on wall street.

On June 19th, 1865, years after the Emancipation Proclamation, African Americans in Texas were finally informed they were free. They had the opportunity, knowing they had the right, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, June 19th is a Federal holiday in the US. That’s good news for Good News Tuesday!

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Thank you to Linda Hill for our prompt and for hosting, SoCS! For more streams and rules, visit Linda’s blog:

The Friday Reminder and Prompt for #SoCS June 19, 2021 | (lindaghill.com)

Good News Tuesday for Sept. 29, 2020: Helping a Neighbor, A Pledge for the Planet, Friendly Abundance, and a New Job

Seeking Balance One Tuesday at a Time

North Dakota Farmers Rally to Help Neighbor after Heart Attack

When Lane Unhjem’s combine caught fire at harvest time he went into cardiac arrest. But about 60 farmers put their own work on hold to join to help their neighbor harvest his wheat and canola crops …. “in a record time of seven hours.” The Good News Network has more.

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Pledging 100% Renewable Energy in New Zealand in Ten Years

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and the Labour party have pledged to have their country running on 100% renewable energy by 2030 if re-elected. The Good News Network has more on their plan.

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Lonely Widower Receives an Abundance of Friends

I’ve lost Jo

My lovely wife and soul mate

I have no friends or family

No one to talk to

I find the unremitting silence

Twenty-four hours a day

Unbearable torture

Can anyone help me?

That’s what was on the sign Tony Williams put up outside his house in England. Before that, two newspaper ads and handing out cards didn’t work and Tony felt cursed with loneliness. Now, he has thousands of friends from around the world. A good reminder to not give up. Keep asking for what you need. Here’s more of the story.

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You’re Hired!

LeShenda Williams was homeless and sleeping in her car at Krogers in where she used to shop. Then she she saw a flyer that the store was having a job fair and decided to ask for a job. The manager saw something special in LeShenda (you will, too) and hired her. Now, LeShenda has an apartment furnished with help from her co-workers.

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Got good news?

Please share in the comments!

An Interview and Review of From Loneliness to Love

Thank you so much to Jane Sturgeon for this interview and review of From Loneliness to Love! Please click on the link to Jane’s blog:

https://janesturgeon.com/joanne-maccos-latest-book-from-loneliness-to-love-five-steps-for-finding-a-healthy-relationship-review-and-interview/

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” It is chock full of loving wisdom which is gentle, practical and relatable and her suggestions are fabulous and do-able. ” Jane Sturgeon

One-Liner Wednesday on Relationships

 

“The good news is that we can learn something from every relationship.”

From Loneliness to Love

 

It was nine years ago on July 15, that I had my second first date with my high school sweetheart. We had not seen each other in 39 years. It took us that long to learn the lessons we needed to learn, to become ready to meet again. The challenges of the past prepared us for the road we walk now. The heartbreaks of yesterday deepen the joys of today. 

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One-liner Wednesday is brought to us by Linda G. Hill. For more one-liners, visit:

One-Liner Wednesday, July 15th – It’s 5 o’clock somewhere

What Flames are You Fanning?

Today’s SoCS prompt is: “fan.” Use it by itself or find a word that starts or ends with it. Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!

 

Fan the flames of peace.

Sing out to bring the dove.

The road might not be straight.

Let me start with my own heart.

 

Fan the flames of justice.

Not with violence, but with strength.

Be persistent.

We can’t always wait for Karma.

 

Fan the flames of love.

Speak your heart’s desire.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Remember we all belong.

 

What do we want to speak into existence? Our thoughts and our words are powerful! Focusing on what we want, not what we don’t want, brings our heart’s desire. Yet, there are times when we must vent to release and make room for something better. Just don’t linger in the darkness. Don’t let the negativity become toxic.

Imagine the best. 

That’s the fifth step in my new book, From Loneliness to Love, Five Steps for Finding a Healthy Relationship. The e-book will be available on Amazon tomorrow! (June 7) I’m still trying to get the cover right for the paperback. It looks good digitally, but the printed proofs….. Oh well.

I will imagine that this book will help people. The principles work not just for finding a healthy relationship, but for many other goals.  Here are the steps:

1. Clarify Your Heart’s Desire
2. Request Help from the Divine
3. Love Yourself Well
4. Focus on Friendship
5. Imagine the Best

 

On another note:

Fan blades remind me of flower petals. So I’ve recycled ? upcycled a couple.

Painted with alcohol ink and soon to be a sunflower

This one spins in the wind.

 

For more Streams of Consciousness, visit our host, Linda G. Hill at

https://lindaghill.com/2020/06/05/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-june-6-2020/

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!

 

How Gratitude Healed My Loneliness

(From my November newsletter)

They say laughter is the best medicine. But the medicine of gratitude reaches deeper into our hearts. Giving thanks for what we have creates positive energy all around us. Gratitude brings more blessings, maybe not right away, but soon.

In my lonely years, I wanted a partner who would be a good fit: respectful, dog-loving, spiritual… My longing softened toward acceptance and even joy when I started to give thanks for what I already had – friends, family, job, home, and that God had a plan for my life. Even though it took a while for my partner to find me, being thankful made me feel better, especially when I made a written list or gave thanks out loud. It helped me realize that my life was good, even without a partner. One of the messages in Trust the Timing, is that we need to be mostly okay as individuals before we can have a healthy relationship. When my partner found me, he shared his own habit of giving thanks at the end of every day. I wonder if gratitude helped lead us back to each other when the time was right.

Every challenge holds an opportunity for thankfulness. I can get overwhelmed by the tasks related to my father’s death in January. Sorting through the things that once belonged to my parents is still hard. But I am thankful for the timing. Dad died right after I retired from my stressful job, so I have time to deal with the physical tasks and the emotional grief. When I miss my parents, I can be thankful that they are together now and don’t miss each other anymore.

Not only can gratitude help us feel better emotionally, it’s good for us physically. Many studies have discovered a connection between gratitude and wellness. This article shows that being thankful is good for our hearts.

I am thankful for you, my readers, for your support and encouragement.
May you have an abundance of blessings to be thankful for now and in the days ahead.

 

 Trust the Timing,
A Memoir of Finding Love Again

makes a great gift for
lonely hearts,
soulmate searchers,
dog lovers,
children of the 70s,
and anyone who likes a happy ending.

To order a copy or write a review,
Please click here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratitude Makes Sense of our Past

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”

Melody Beattie

 Twenty years of Holy Matrimony

Tossed out like old shoes.

What happened to the promise?

To the dream?

To the love?

Change ran them off

Down divergent paths.

Years

of

Confusion

and

Loneliness

Finally passed as

 Acceptance

Seeped into the empty space

 Making room for new possibilities.

 I found my self again.

And loved me for my soul.

And  when the time was right,

Everything made sense.

Now I’m thankful that he made that space

and found a better fit,

Thankful for the time to heal

and learning to let go,

Thankful for the lessons learned

on long and winding roads,

Thankful for convergent paths

That brought my true love home.

© 2016 JoAnne Macco.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and followers for whom I am very thankful!