Category Archives: Opinions

Pride or Humility

I have been thinking about the reasons that I blog. I am not consistent in writing.  I have not set any goals or any particular topic to write about.   I even wonder if the things I write about are really worth reading.  I have been told the things I write might be thought of as depressing.  (Yikes!!! I did not see myself as depressed.)  Anyway, I wonder if I have a story to tell or worthwhile thoughts to share…..

I used to think my self-doubt and insecurity about writing were signs of my profound humility. It felt noble and heroic to be this full of agonizing self-doubt…….

But that’s the thing about pride. It hides itself.

The more I go on, the more I realize, it’s entirely the other way round. Our self-doubt and insecurity don’t reveal our humility; they mask our pride.

When you’re doubting whether you can do it, whether you’re a good writer, you’re looking to yourself, what you can do, what resources you have. You’re focused entirely inwardly, on yourself.

It’s pride because it means you think it’s all about you.

But if you realize it’s not about you — that whatever you have is a gift from God — if, in other words, you get out of the way — then you can be fearless. There is no vision too great, nothing too outrageous to dream, nothing too impossible to dare.

If you believe, as Madeleine L’Engle believed, that your writing is not so much about control as it is about trust, you will be bolder, braver, more able to take risks — and your writing will become more like faith.

It’s no longer about you and what you can do. You do the hard work of writing, you practice your craft, you show up. But you become servant to the story. And the story is cleverer and bigger than you are. Your job is to get out of the way and let the story through.   Sally Lloyd-Jones

My job is to “get out of the way”…..Keep on trying and keep on blogging.

Can We Change Anyone?

Relationships sometime seems so difficult.  I do not know why the people I love and care about can not see  and do things the way I do…. No matter how much I try to change them it only brings me anger, resentment and overall unhappiness.  What to do about this….deep in my heart I have known the answer and like always it is hard to put in practice.

We can’t change the person we are married to—even when we want to; we can only work on becoming the person God has called us to become. –Sarah Flashing

I noticed that this is a work in progress. So today and everyday I am going to try to work on “becoming the person God has called me to become…..

Am I too Easily Pleased?


Spring has come and gone…. I am still trying to read the book “It’s All Too Much” by Peter Walsh.  My plan was to get everything organized in my house.  I have renewed this book three times from the library.  I was hoping that I would be inspired and motivated to get rid of a lot of stuff and it is not happening.  After living over 20 years in the same house it is amazing how much stuff is accumulated.   This is what I have managed to do…just make more piles of stuff but instead of being hidden in spaces the stuff is in the middle of the empty rooms.  So I have been wondering if I  ……..

….. routinely fall into the lie that the secret to a fulfilled life is the possession of more belongings and the achievement of personal gain.  Joshua Becker

And if I my …..

“….. desires are not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”  C. S. Lewis

….That the reason I can not get rid of stuff is that I am too easily pleased with my possessions., that I am focusing on the wrong stuff, and worst of all that I am living a selfish life instead of a fulfilled life ….. much to ponder today.

Day Light Savings Time – Did You Spring Forward?

Last night before turning out the light I remembered I was to turn the clocks back one hour. Since it was 11:00, it was like going to bed at midnight. (0n the weekends I am trying to wake up without an alarm to ensure I am getting enough sleep). This morning I woke up at 6:00am. Not bad since it is really 5:00am which is my normal waking time during the week. However, there have been repercussion from losing an hour of sleep.

1. This morning I made my coffee like I do every morning. I am busy putting dishes in the dishwasher and then I look over to the coffee pot and realize that I have forgotten to put the pot on the burner. Coffee is going everywhere. I briefly, that is very briefly thought about taking a picture to post on this blog. Sanity returned and I started mopping up the spilled coffee. I then proceeded to make a new pot.

2. I only reset two clocks last night. My bedroom clock and my watch. I am reading the paper, surfing the net, looking through pinterest. Basically wasting time. I look over at the kitchen clock and I am thinking it is 7:00am. I have plenty of time this morning. After about 15 more minutes of goofing around, I look at my watch and realize that it is now after 8:00. Now instead od being calm and relaxed I am frantically trying to eat some breakfast and get ready for worship services. Hope the rest of the day goes better.

I wonder how everyone else is surviving with the first day of daylight savings time.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Expired – Am I Going To Die

This morning I was fixing my breakfast and I decided I would eat my favorite breakfast – yogurt, fruit, and granola. As I was gathering the ingredients to make this fantastic breakfast, I started looking at the yogurt container for the expiration date. I knew I have had this container for just a little bit over 10 days. Then to my horror I noticed this on the container.

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I thought yogurt was like milk – you could use it until that expiration date. So far I have not died of food poisoning but from now on I will be more mindful of eating up the yogurt.

What is Stressful for Me – Thinking about the Upcoming Tax Season

I always like the month of January.  I like to make New Year’s Resolutions and I like to think that I can actually keep the resolutions that I make.  And I think I have good progress on the resolutions for a couple of weeks.  I know, I know a lot of people fall off keeping resolutions after only a few weeks.

It is now time for me to write about my excuse for breaking my resolutions.  I can sum it up in two words – Tax Season.  Starting in January, my workload starts to increase and I begin to think about how I can do more work during the week.  Of course, that means more hours working and less time to exercise, organize, read etc.  and there go the resolutions.

This week one of my c0-workers announced that they are going to work for a client of hers as an employee for two days of the week and will only be able to work in our office for three days a week.  This co-worker was very nervous when she finally gathered enough courage to tell the boss.  This was because we thought the boss would be very mad about this decision.  When it was said and done the boss seemed quite pleased.  Probably because she saw it as a cost saving move for the firm. I can only see as more work for me; more stress for me.

I have already decided that it was time to maybe start putting in some weekend hours.  This means it is starting.  The time when work starts to overtake my life. This year I do not want to be consumed with working on tax returns every waking minute of the day.  Every year I say this and I fail miserable in trying to keep a balance between work, family and leisure.

I was reading the paper this morning and luckily for me I came across an article on stress.

Stress happens when people perceive that the demands they face exceed the ability to cope. – Sharon Jayson

Well that is what happens during tax season.  The demand to complete tax returns accurately and quickly as more and more of them are dropped off to prepare create this unbelievable feeling of not being able to get them done.

So here is the way suggested to manage the stress.

  • Exercise
  • Take a break even if it is only 20 minutes
  • Share feelings with others who you trust and can validate your feelings
  • Meditate or mindful prayer

Then this morning I started reading some blogs that I like to keep up with.  I came across these excerpts of a sermon by John Piper that I think may help me, too.

What Does Free Really Mean?

Today I was looking at the Amazon website to purchase the book “Christmas Jars” by Jason F. Wright for the December book club meeting.  I knew that books could be borrowed much like a library on the kindle and I thought that I would check into this feature.  It is free for prime members.  I then began to wonder – who is a prime member.  Well, a prime member is one who pays a yearly fee of $79.  So my questions it this – is it really free if I have to pay a membership fee?  I am sure the membership fee contains other perks which I have not checked out.  But overall,  this does not sound free to me.  What do you think?

Neat Desk Scanner – Do I want one?

The other day I saw one of these advertised on the television and thought this is just what I need to get organized. One of my favorite pastimes is to look at magazines and tear out the parts of the magazine that I think I want to keep. I have hundreds of magazines pages of recipes that I want to make but never have the time to do it. I thought wouldn’t this machine be perfect for getting all those magazines recipes organized. I know, I know – if I just threw them away and then just stopped tearing up magazines then I would not have to worry about all these pieces of paper that I need do do something with. The Neat Desk Scanner sales for $380.00 on amazon.com. That is pretty steep for a scanner especially when I already have one of those combination scanner/fax/printers for my computer. I was especially envious when a critique on the Neat Scanner was done on one of the blogs that I keep up with. Of course, it got rave reviews – I would give it rave reviews if the company sent me one to try for free. I know, I know – it is just sour grapes because I have all these unorganized papers but not a new Neat Scanner to organize them.

Am I Rude? I Certainly Hope Not.

Today is the first day of what I am going to call “hell” week.  October 17 is a big day for tax accountants.  We are  or at least our office is working desperately to get out all the individual tax returns that are on final extension.  As the pressure builds to beat the deadline, tempers flare.  To make matters worse our fearless leader has been out of the office since the first of October and now not only our our tempers short but also our clients are not happy.  Not a good situation at all.  It makes for a horrible Monday.

Anyway, as I was reading the paper this morning I came across this article written by the “You Docs” called “Incivility at Work?”  As I read the article I decided that I needed to apply these tips especially this week when it will be so easy to be rude and nasty.

1.  Respect others. Look for the best in people. Speak kindly. Bite my tongue when I am about to gossip or make a witty-cruel comment.  Listen to my coworkers.

2.  Avoid the verbal toxin at the office.  If it happens, then think upbeat thoughts afterwards.

3. Don’t make excuses for my own rude behavior.

4.  Try to find meaning in what I do.

Here are the reasons why I need to put this in place.

1.  It infects my home life.  Rudeness has a ripple affect and I will then treat the ones I love with unkindness.

2.  It is a health threat.  Negativity and chronic stress boost my blood pressure.  Being polite and positive does the opposite.

3.  This is definitely true – I do not work as hard and I resentment grows within me.

 

 

McDonald’s Strawberry Lemonade

After aqua Zumba, I knew that the only thing waiting at home was a sweltering house. So I decided to stop by McDonald’s to try their new strawberry lemonade. Actually, I thought I had coupon for a free one. Well, I dug through my piles and piles of paper to find the coupons only to discover they expired on June 15. No matter. I will splurge. Two strawberry lemonades-one for E. And one for me. The 16 ounce size costs $1.57. According, to a diet website the 16 ounce size has 270 calories. No problem – I am sure or rather hope I burned as many calories as they advertise when doing Zumba.

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