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Tuesday
May252010

Everyday vs. Once in a While

AuthorMendy DateTuesday, May 25, 2010 at 11:21AM

As you may or may not know one of my favorite books and blogs is the Happiness Project.  I love it because it is inspiration and practicality rolled into one.  Hard to find.

Recently Gretchen reminded us that “what you do everyday matters more than what you do once in a while” which goes right along with her saying “the days are long, but the years are short”, so make the most of your time, and don’t give up entirely due to minor or even major setbacks.    This is something I wanted to remember, even when I first read them months and months ago. 

This statement has immense carry-over in many if not all areas of our lives.  If we love, show up, nurture, attend, give, protect, encourage every day will it negate the times that I hide out, watch from afar, plan instead of do, snap instead of praise, react instead of teach.  I think of all these things in the relationships I have with my children but also every other significant connection I have as well.  The bottom line…. everyday matters more than once in a while. 

We are not perfect, for sure, and life is not black and white always.  Guilt does come around when “once in a while” happens but I am still striving to make “everyday” the standard in my life.

So if “once in a while” happened to you today simply…pick up your metaphor of choice….and keep going!



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Wednesday
May122010

Dreams and Trees

AuthorMendy DateWednesday, May 12, 2010 at 2:50PM

I recently read the Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it.  He is a man whose life was shortened by pancreatic cancer and was given a rare opportunity to leave the world (and more importantly his young children) with a written message before taking leave of it and reporting to the next.  In reading his story you find that it is not a somber death note of regret, nor is it about a grueling fight with a terrible disease, it is about LIFE.  His Life was well-lived and filled with dreams, as well as filled with people at every turn that catalyzed his dreams, including his parents.   This is a rare gift indeed.  A life with no regrets in which each chapter permeates with a contentedness that I find to be elusive in my own life at times.   

 

I love to be inspired, motivated, encouraged and heralded to action by these kinds of people; teachers and mentors, who weave together human connection with legacy and progress.  It is these kinds of people who change the world for individuals with their vision, with their beliefs, and with their actual story.  The vision and belief they have is often set up in blatant disregard to mediocrity and natural selection.  You dream…then do, it’s that simple. 

 

As I reflect on the book’s message I found a startling disparity in my life and Randy’s.  I didn’t have any childhood dreams.  Is this sad, and pitiful….? Maybe.  I had parents that worked hard, lived paycheck to paycheck, moved a lot, and struggled to thrive.  My life was permeated with a realism that didn’t foster dreams.  I was loved, yes…even cherished.  My good was of utmost importance to my parents.  For whatever reason, my genetic makeup, personality, environment etc. was to live in the now, and worry about the future, not to create the future I wanted. 

I definitely knew people who always wanted to be a Doctor, a world-traveler, a talented athlete, or even simply to be a mother.  I never had an inkling for any of it until I left adolescence and left my childhood behind. 

Now, I’m a big dreamer, even if still a little bound to pragmatism because of life experience. People like Randy, teachers and mentors have been a big part in boosting my late blooming garden of dreams.  One of my dreams is to make sure my children have dreams, and not to squelch them.  To be that “spring-board mentor” that lofts others up into their stratosphere. 

My biggest dream…

I aim to change my family tree…In the process I think I’ll take the two kids backpacking across Europe before they are teens, not much time before then, so I’m off to it.

 

 



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Wednesday
May122010

End of Spring Hiatus

AuthorMendy DateWednesday, May 12, 2010 at 2:33PM

Well my unplanned sabbatical from blogging is over.  I let spring fever get to me.  So frenzied with activity that I left my 5's and 10's of readers hanging in the wind.  Complaints have been lodged at the complaint department and action has been taken.  Stay tuned...we now rejoin regularly scheduled programming now in progress.

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Monday
Apr052010

How to increase simplicity in your life

AuthorMendy DateMonday, April 5, 2010 at 4:06PM
  • Decrease your possessions- It is very difficult to fight the urge to keep up with the Jones’ or to talk yourself out of something that we think we want or need.  The emotional benefit of a shopping spree is usually short lived and swiftly accompanied by guilt. The new and exciting buzz of having the latest and best gadget, toy, or clothes quickly melts away and never seems to satisfy.  With more stuff comes more responsibility, more maintenance, more debt, more clutter, and more distractions, none of which add any quality, freedom, or joy to our lives. 
  • Cut down on all of your screen time- Without quoting the latest statistic, we can probably attest to its truth, that we all spend too much time watching TV., playing video games, browsing our cell phone features, and gaze far to long at the white glowing light of our computer screen.  We live in a digital world, a “matrix” that continually steals our most precious gift of time.  The barrage of media, advertisements, bad news, distractions, mindless downtime that all of these screens give us can cripple our creativity and keeps us from the cathartic force of human connection. 

 

  • Meditate- whatever your spiritual practice or lack thereof pertains; taking the time to sit and think, to sit and not think, or to simply be present for just a few moments can be extraordinarily beneficial to our psyches.  A moment’s reflection can direct us to the floodgates of our creativity, or to the next mountain we are to climb.  We cannot do or be what we are not aware of.  Awareness is what meditation gives us. 

 

  • Wake up earlier/ go to bed earlier- We are busy people.  Our breakneck pace and acts of striving everyday take their toll on us, especially the ones who are motivated by productivity and profit.  A good night’s sleep has more power to heal our bodies and minds than any other action, vitamin, vegetable, mineral, or medicine we may take.

 

  • Do more of what you love- We all have something that brings a sense of relief, a smile to our face, and a sense of enjoyment and purpose.  Whatever that is, do more of it! Cut out something else to make room for it.  Life is too short to live from commitment to commitment, and responsibility to responsibility.

 

  • Cultivate your relationships - Even the most introverted (which I am not) among us has a need for friendship and human connection.  Take time to take care of the people in your life that give you joy and make life delightful.  Don’t ignore them or take them for granted.  Don’t think that tomorrow you can make the call, or have the visit.    



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Friday
Mar192010

Why I love Spring

AuthorMendy DateFriday, March 19, 2010 at 12:10PM

The blooming trees and flowers-  Always a delight when the sun’s triumphant return becomes more consistent and the circle of life starts to take on it’s splendor once again.  I love dogwoods, cherry blossoms, azaleas, and all of the other beautiful blossoms that give spring its’ splash of color.  I love the scented air and the fact that all of this draws people outside to appreciate nature and all of God’s wonders. 

 

Let the cycling season begin- I’m a bike geek, and I love Lance.  It’s time for the spring classics which always inch us closer to the grand tours of the summer!  Since cycling doesn’t involve a ball of some sort most of you probably don’t know what I’m talking about, or why I would get excited about this at all.  Cycling is a dramatic sport with teams, (yes I said teams), rivals, and beautiful backdrops and there is plenty of blood, sweat, tears, and pain; more than any other sport I know.  It’s awesome.  March madness not so much J.

 

An end in sight- this is in regards to work. Although I love my job, it is very stressful and has a momentum that builds all year until you just have to stop, or be killed. Spring means that there’s just a few more months till summer, and I don’t have to do the day job and get to do whatever I want, even if just for a few weeks.  Ahh the freedom!

 

The call to the outdoors- It’s hard to be motivated in winter for just about anything except curling up with blankets and drinking hot-chocolate. Winter is something to overcome, and doesn’t help the depression much, while spring is to be enjoyed and reminds us of new life.  I love that the spring sunlight calls my mind and body to action.  More walking and running, more cycling, more playing, more parks, more daylight, more energy.  Best of all my pasty, alabaster skin slowly turns to honey.

 

Enjoy your days and be blessed!



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