Today I have been pondering happiness. Here's what I've come up with.....happiness is a state of mind, not a way of life or a destination that will be reached one day. The road of life contains many bumps, but we cannot let them ruin our days. We often think that if a combination of events would just fall into place THEN we would finally be happy. Satisfaction, or happiness, comes from within, through truly accepting yourself, your life, and your circumstances - not such an easy task. During this life there will be many hard days--long work days, sleepless nights, worrying about the future, etc., but these are just the bumps in the road.
This week, I'm choosing to focus on my happiness (state of mind) along with trying to find a way to enjoy (okay maybe get through) those little bumps in the road too.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
Is There Selfless Sacrifice In Me?
Do I have the courage to really lay my life on the line for another person? A person that may not even be related to me. I have been searching my heart trying to find the answer within me. I probably will never know unless the situation arises.
Here is the story and the reason why I'm looking into my heart and my courage. There is a woman that attends our church. She is a very active member, serves on worship team, leads a small group with her husband, teaches Sunday school once a month and the list goes on and on. I often wondered that she is so busy with the "works" of the church does she have the time or the heart to really have a relationship with God. Okay, that's a pretty judgemental attitude and I could not have been more wrong. This woman's faith and love for the Lord moved her to recently donate a kidney to someone she has gotten to be good friends with over the last five years. She didn't hesitate, she didn't do the "what ifs"....what if the kidney I have left fails, what if her body rejects my kidney and neither one of us have use of if, what if something goes wrong in the surgery, the list of what ifs could go on and on. But, she didn't do that. She went ahead and had the test for compatibility as a donor. She was found to be the best donor match of anyone tested. This woman's behavior and character was truly an example selfless sacrifice and a behavior of acting like Jesus with skin on. Her response, when asked about why she chose to do this was "God gave you an extra kidney, you might as well share it." Both women have been blessed making remarkable recoveries after highly successful surgeries.
So, I look at myself, do I have the courage and a strong enough faith to "put it on the line"? Would I/could I do that for someone else? There's no doubt in my mind that I could donate a kidney to one of my children or my husband. I want to hope and believe that I would be the kind of person that would selflessly sacrifice for another. Boy, I admire this woman so much and her courage to give to another without thinking of herself. This is the type of character I hope I have within me.
Here is the story and the reason why I'm looking into my heart and my courage. There is a woman that attends our church. She is a very active member, serves on worship team, leads a small group with her husband, teaches Sunday school once a month and the list goes on and on. I often wondered that she is so busy with the "works" of the church does she have the time or the heart to really have a relationship with God. Okay, that's a pretty judgemental attitude and I could not have been more wrong. This woman's faith and love for the Lord moved her to recently donate a kidney to someone she has gotten to be good friends with over the last five years. She didn't hesitate, she didn't do the "what ifs"....what if the kidney I have left fails, what if her body rejects my kidney and neither one of us have use of if, what if something goes wrong in the surgery, the list of what ifs could go on and on. But, she didn't do that. She went ahead and had the test for compatibility as a donor. She was found to be the best donor match of anyone tested. This woman's behavior and character was truly an example selfless sacrifice and a behavior of acting like Jesus with skin on. Her response, when asked about why she chose to do this was "God gave you an extra kidney, you might as well share it." Both women have been blessed making remarkable recoveries after highly successful surgeries.
So, I look at myself, do I have the courage and a strong enough faith to "put it on the line"? Would I/could I do that for someone else? There's no doubt in my mind that I could donate a kidney to one of my children or my husband. I want to hope and believe that I would be the kind of person that would selflessly sacrifice for another. Boy, I admire this woman so much and her courage to give to another without thinking of herself. This is the type of character I hope I have within me.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Can we be a nation united?
I am extremely excited for our country with the change in leadership to Obama. Yesterday was a historic day ushering in a new era of leadership, vision, and direction. Obama has a full plate set in front of him and we need to be patient, work hard, and be willing to make the sacrifices required to get our economy back on track.
After having heard all of the wonderful excerpts from Obama's speech and all the comments about Michelle Obama's wardrobe, you know how important that is to our economic health, I found myself extremely ashamed of the behavior of some of the United States citizens as Bush was leaving yesterday.Bush may not have left office as a favorite president, but we as a country elected him to two terms of office and, we as a country, owe him the respect of treating him with dignity as he leaves the leadership of our country. I don't agree with all of the decisions that were made during his office, but there were many advisers assisting him. He used the advice given to him to make the decisions he felt were right and the best for the country at the time.
Yesterday as Former President Bush was leaving, on-lookers heckled and booed him. Where is respect for the man that we elected and put in charge to run our country. He's not the one that put the banking system "belly-up". I don't hear outrage from the public about the insurance companies, mortgage companies and banks that have had to be bailed out by receiving millions and millions of our tax dollars. Where did a significant portion of this money go? It went to the executives that made the decisions that put our nation in the catastrophic shape it's in. But is there an outcry or booing about rewarding them with millions of bonus money and benefits for their poor decision making and judgement. So, here is some of our nation booing a president that is leaving office after serving us for 8 years. It makes me sad that people can treat each other this way. It makes me wonder if these same people will be willing to endure the sacrifices that will be needed to get our nation back on track.
I don't see area of Camelot returning any time soon.
After having heard all of the wonderful excerpts from Obama's speech and all the comments about Michelle Obama's wardrobe, you know how important that is to our economic health, I found myself extremely ashamed of the behavior of some of the United States citizens as Bush was leaving yesterday.Bush may not have left office as a favorite president, but we as a country elected him to two terms of office and, we as a country, owe him the respect of treating him with dignity as he leaves the leadership of our country. I don't agree with all of the decisions that were made during his office, but there were many advisers assisting him. He used the advice given to him to make the decisions he felt were right and the best for the country at the time.
Yesterday as Former President Bush was leaving, on-lookers heckled and booed him. Where is respect for the man that we elected and put in charge to run our country. He's not the one that put the banking system "belly-up". I don't hear outrage from the public about the insurance companies, mortgage companies and banks that have had to be bailed out by receiving millions and millions of our tax dollars. Where did a significant portion of this money go? It went to the executives that made the decisions that put our nation in the catastrophic shape it's in. But is there an outcry or booing about rewarding them with millions of bonus money and benefits for their poor decision making and judgement. So, here is some of our nation booing a president that is leaving office after serving us for 8 years. It makes me sad that people can treat each other this way. It makes me wonder if these same people will be willing to endure the sacrifices that will be needed to get our nation back on track.
I don't see area of Camelot returning any time soon.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Value time before it's too late
I don't know about you, but often my days are busied with worry, stress, complaining, work, and a general wasting of time. This year I have made the commitment to myself to realize the value of time, and not wait until it is too late. While life may seem like it's a long time in the midst of it, truly it is a blink of an eye.
I will admit, I am a procrastinator. I have great, wonderful ideas (well I think they're great), but I don't bring a lot of them to fruition. My goal this year (okay make it a resolution), is stop procrastinating, stop living for the future, but live in the present. By that I mean making more time in my life for enjoying a good cup of coffee, calling family and friends to chat, reading a good book, or reaching out to someone in need. These are some of things I don't always take the time to do or enjoy. Everyday I want to get all of necessary work done that needs to be done, but allow extra time to spend on the truly important things, the matters or people that may be gone sooner than I can imagine.
This blog is short, but I have put my thoughts in writing making a written commitment to myself. When December rolls around, I'll evaluate how I've done this year.
"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness...never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." - Lord Chesterfield
I will admit, I am a procrastinator. I have great, wonderful ideas (well I think they're great), but I don't bring a lot of them to fruition. My goal this year (okay make it a resolution), is stop procrastinating, stop living for the future, but live in the present. By that I mean making more time in my life for enjoying a good cup of coffee, calling family and friends to chat, reading a good book, or reaching out to someone in need. These are some of things I don't always take the time to do or enjoy. Everyday I want to get all of necessary work done that needs to be done, but allow extra time to spend on the truly important things, the matters or people that may be gone sooner than I can imagine.
This blog is short, but I have put my thoughts in writing making a written commitment to myself. When December rolls around, I'll evaluate how I've done this year.
"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness...never put off till tomorrow what you can do today." - Lord Chesterfield
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