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Are You Ready for the Big Bad Wolf?

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Optimism is essential to achievement and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.

— Nicholas M. Butler

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?  Well, it seems we all are.  In Love Beyond Reason, John Ortberg goes all the way back to the story of the Three Little Pigs to make a point.  I know you remember the story, but just in case you want to watch the Disney version, you can see it here.  Ortberg points out that every life has its Big Bad Wolves.  No matter what we do, the Big Bad Wolf (BBW) comes to visit us many times throughout our lives.  We never know what form he will take and there is no way to avoid him.  In life, there are Big Bad Wolves and we need to deal with them. (Sometimes several of them gang up on us all at the same time — after all, wolves run in packs.)

What to Do About All That Huffing and Puffing

No matter what form the BBW takes, his focus is to huff and puff and blow your house down.  The question is what have we done to Continue reading » Are You Ready for the Big Bad Wolf?

Take Action — Show Your Gratitude

Thank You Notes
Creative Commons License photo credit: meddygarnet
How do we do that?

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

— G.K. Chesterton

In last week’s posts we celebrated the helpers who sprung up to assist an injured friend, a cornucopia of new beginnings for an off-the-track fitness resolution and the wellspring of hope that the habit of gratitude engenders.  All of which got me to thinking about how to persist in the face of various challenges. Continue reading » Take Action — Show Your Gratitude

I Almost Missed It…

looking_up_medHave you ever gotten so annoyed at some little thing that you missed the goodness of the moment?

May I not miss beauty.
May I not miss joy.
May I not miss wonder.
Keep me awake and aware of the world.

— Ceisiwr Serith

Today’s post is about an ordinary day about to go off track.  AND about an extraordinary vista I almost missed in my haste and aggravation.

This morning I organized my “out” chores and clustered them together… I aimed to get in several errands before Continue reading » I Almost Missed It…

We Got the News…

LoopsNED – “no evidence of disease” is what we expected to hear after the latest, now routine round of tests. Instead, we heard, “it appears there is disease here.” Esophageal cancer is hard to beat down but we thought my husband’s surgery and two chemotherapy regimens, completed a year ago, had beat it down. It had. For a short while. But it is back.

We weren’t expecting this news. And it knocked us for a loop. (Ya think??) We’re still in a state of shock, trying to make sense out of what appears to be a death sentence. But so it was, back in the Fall of 2007, and he managed to beat it down then. And even though last year’s chemo threw him in the hospital for eleven days, he’s signed-on for doing chemo again. That takes guts, let me tell you!

Continue reading » We Got the News…

Cup o’ Inspiration

cup with steam swirl

Take a short break and consider the following:

“A successful person is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at them.”

David Brinkley

From the Giftshop

Buy an Appreciate Good Things in Life - wildflowers mug
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Appreciate the good things in life mousepad
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Recommended Reading

Image of The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People (Expanded and Adapted for Small Groups)
Image of Hunches in Bunches (Classic Seuss)
Image of The Complete Artist's Way: Creativity as a Spiritual Practice
Image of Thanks!: How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier