http://www.bouncebackcafe.com Dedicated to finding useful, resilient solutions to life's adversities. Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:03:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2012/gen/persistently-stubborn-3138 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2012/gen/persistently-stubborn-3138#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:01:07 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=3138 Today is the one year anniversary of my “new job.” I’m amazed at how much this experience has changed me. I have developed and delivered training for about 15 years. Although one can always learn, most projects I’ve been involved with don’t really stretch me. Yes, I have to learn about the topic I’m working on, but because I’m very good at learning new businesses and the software systems that run that specific business, it’s usually a joyful and fun experience. Learning new businesses is something I ...Continue reading » Persistently Stubborn]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2012/gen/persistently-stubborn-3138/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/where-does-insanity-come-from-2771 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/where-does-insanity-come-from-2771#comments Tue, 26 Jul 2011 07:01:12 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2771 There’s a very old joke that goes, “Where does insanity come from? You get it from your parents (or kids or cousins or siblings – in other words, family).” And everyone laughs, ruefully – because underneath every good joke is some truth. We do get our insanity from our families. We also get our growth from them, too – if we choose to. Families are like incubators. There’s plenty of light and heat, which can hatch all kinds of ...Continue reading » Where Does Insanity Come From?]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/where-does-insanity-come-from-2771/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/productive-or-counter-productive-2645 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/productive-or-counter-productive-2645#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 07:01:54 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2645 I am constantly amazed at how bad my memory is. Not in the sense of being unable to remember names or phone numbers, but rather in the sense of quickly forgetting important lessons that I’ve learned. One of the best examples I can give you is my inability to remember good ideas I’ve gotten from the books I’ve read or listened to. With my two hour commute – one hour in each direction – I’m spending a fair amount of time listening to good books and classes. I will be driving along listening to ...Continue reading » Productive OR Counter-productive?]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/productive-or-counter-productive-2645/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/better-and-better-2622 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/better-and-better-2622#comments Tue, 17 May 2011 07:01:56 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2622 Do you believe that you are a learning and growing being? Back in the beginning of the self-esteem movement, many proponents recommended that you repeat an affirmation to help you improve your self-esteem. It went, “Everyday, in every way, I’m getting better and better.” To say that this became the basis of jokes about self-esteem is to understate how much of a ...Continue reading » Better and Better]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/better-and-better-2622/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/how-to-hang-on-2530 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/how-to-hang-on-2530#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 07:01:00 +0000 Ellie http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2530 Feel like you’re hanging on for dear life? Then it’s time for the 3-P’s: Perseverance, Persistence and Patience. In a recent post, Get Yourself a Kayak, I remarked that: …even when you feel like you “can’t get there from here”, persevere… continually sweep the horizon looking for a better passageway… and, when such a passage presents itself, persist by going “the next mile”… Add “patience” to that recommendation and ...Continue reading » How to Hang On]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/how-to-hang-on-2530/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/get-yourself-a-kayak-2515 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/get-yourself-a-kayak-2515#comments Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:01:14 +0000 Ellie http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2515 When “you can’t get there from here” – then what? Sometimes the unexpected sends you reeling and you suddenly find you can’t get there from here anymore… Playing around with my new iTouch, I decided to get directions to my son’s base from my home in Maryland. So I typed “Wahiawa, Hawaii.” I got turn-by-turn directions until I hit the coast. Then I was told, “Kayak across the Pacific Ocean entering Hawaii.” — Cindy Hays Well, a kayak is certainly one way to cross the Pacific Ocean; but a luxury cruise has more appeal. However, if there’s white water ahead, then I’d choose ...Continue reading » Get Yourself a Kayak]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/get-yourself-a-kayak-2515/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/still-making-progress-2307 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/still-making-progress-2307#comments Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:01:21 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2307 I’ve never seen myself as creative. It seemed whenever I was asked to participate in a creativity exercise, I had the least number of ideas as well as having the most obvious and boring ideas. I couldn’t draw and if given an assignment to pick something interesting to photograph, my mind immediately goes blank. (Hey, there’s an idea, find a blank billboard and take a picture of that to demonstrate just how NOT creative I am.) Recently, I read an article by Earl Nightingale. In it, he described what he felt were the key characteristics of a creative person: ...Continue reading » Still Making Progress]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/still-making-progress-2307/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/dog-paddle-me-outta-this-mood-2285 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/dog-paddle-me-outta-this-mood-2285#comments Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:01:55 +0000 Ellie http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2285 How do you keep your head above water when you feel like you’re drowning? In my last few posts I boasted with great élan that, through focused intent and continuing persistence, I would find myself “doing” whatever it is I’m meant to be. But now I find my high-spirited confidence waning – I find myself asking: Did I ever have a successful achieving self? Really and truly? It seems as though I’m swimming against a riptide of doubt; I’m dog paddling when I meant to ...Continue reading » Dog Paddle Me Outta This Mood!]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/dog-paddle-me-outta-this-mood-2285/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/an-unpleasant-surprise-2281 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/an-unpleasant-surprise-2281#comments Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:01:54 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2281 I have a friend whose grandson returned from Iraq over a year ago. He had seen some awful things over there, probably more than any of us can even imagine, and he had held his best friend in his arms as he died. Like many of our returning veterans, he tried to keep life the way it had been before he went to Iraq. It just wasn’t possible. After a short period of time, it became obvious that he was struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). After all that we’ve asked of our service people, when they return we expect them to be able to reintegrate into society and be able to manage their lives as if nothing changed. With any injury or illness, if the soldier is conscious, he is expected to ...Continue reading » An Unpleasant Surprise]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2011/gen/an-unpleasant-surprise-2281/feed 0 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2010/gen/stubborn-2032 http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2010/gen/stubborn-2032#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 07:01:10 +0000 PattiAnn http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/?p=2032 The odds that any of us will be successful in achieving a goal are directly proportional to our commitment to figuring out our path to success. Often success is the result of us continuing in the face of small successes or no successes until we reach our goal. It’s not about how “smart” we are. It’s not about who we know. It’s about the ability to be flexibly stubborn in pursuit of our dream. Stubborn. You probably don’t think of stubbornness as being a positive quality. Certainly when your two year old is stomping her foot at you in an attempt to get what she wants, it isn’t. But stubborn is just another word for ...Continue reading » Stubborn]]> http://www.bouncebackcafe.com/2010/gen/stubborn-2032/feed 0