- Driving down a tree-lined street, the kind where the trees from either side meet above you.
- Climbing into bed with clean sheets after a shower
- A child running towards you for a hug
- Unexpected calls from friends and family just to say hello
- Getting cards in the mail
- The clean fresh smell after the rain
- The wag of your dog's tail
- Watching someone's face light up in response to a thoughtful surprise or gift
- Getting the perfect nacho
- The satisfaction of accomplishing something you worked hard for
- The warmth of a blanket
- Saving more than you spend at the store
- An encouraging word
- Helping someone learn - anything
- Hearing the right song at the right time
- Finding something you thought you lost
- Feeling strong emotion and remembering what we're capable of
- Receiving a compliment, and giving a compliment
- Unexpected laughs, even better than just plain laughs
- Someone recognizing something in you that not everyone does
- Enjoying the beauty of Earth
- Capturing an awesome moment on ""film" (or an SD card now)
- Finishing a good book
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Simple Joys
With all the stresses of normal life, it is often difficult to remember the simple joys. Those small things that bring us the purest joy. I strive to keep these things at the forefront of my thoughts so they don't pass me by when they are kind enough to come my way. I know I don't always fully appreciate these moments. Hopefully we can all help each other stay more aware of them. Feel free to leave me a comment with your additions to the list. :)
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Unspoken
I've been told it is best not to share your thoughts on religion and politics with acquaintances. I usually tend to follow this advice. Well, I'm going to just bend the mold for a minute.
I have never been vocal about my beliefs or thoughts on faith and religion, so it is hard to find the right words here. It has always been fairly private to me. However, I try to live my life in a way that others see my faith through me, without having to preach it. I'm not that outright in telling my beliefs, but I hope that others know them anyway. I want to live in a way that shows God's love. I strive to continuously grow in my own personal journey of faith, but while I tend to keep that to myself in words, I hope the actions come through to others.
I enjoy listening to KLOVE, positive enoucouraging radio. Just like most music genres, there are songs I like and songs I don't totally love. So it is another radio station in my rotation, I flip around a lot. In January the radio station issued the 30 day challenge: to listen to nothing but KLOVE for 30 days. So through January and February I did just that. Well, almost. The radio station did not change in my car for 30 days. It was all I listened to at work. I thought I would get more tired of those songs than I did. It was a blessing to have that in my life everyday. My faith was more on my mind. I was striving more than usual to stay positive and hopeful and keep things in perspective. It was an excellent source of comfort to hear those encouraging words every day. I'm glad I took the challenge. Although I've gone back to a larger variety of music, I still listen to KLOVE often and always feel encouraged from it.
Now, for the season of lent, I am re-reading (I think this is my 5th time) The Purpose Driven Life. It is a 40 day journey, that again focuses my thoughts on my faith. It is always interesting to see how I read and interpret things differently from each time I read it based on what's happening in my life. My favorite day each time - Day 16. Summed up: "The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now."
My relationship with the Lord is ever growing and I want to continue striving to live a life of love. I have a lot of questions, sometimes doubts, but I am learning and continuing on my journey. I enjoy my conversations with the Lord, it can be anywhere at anytime, but those little moments are pretty awesome.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying.
--1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, NLT
Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
-- Colossians 3:12
I have never been vocal about my beliefs or thoughts on faith and religion, so it is hard to find the right words here. It has always been fairly private to me. However, I try to live my life in a way that others see my faith through me, without having to preach it. I'm not that outright in telling my beliefs, but I hope that others know them anyway. I want to live in a way that shows God's love. I strive to continuously grow in my own personal journey of faith, but while I tend to keep that to myself in words, I hope the actions come through to others.
I enjoy listening to KLOVE, positive enoucouraging radio. Just like most music genres, there are songs I like and songs I don't totally love. So it is another radio station in my rotation, I flip around a lot. In January the radio station issued the 30 day challenge: to listen to nothing but KLOVE for 30 days. So through January and February I did just that. Well, almost. The radio station did not change in my car for 30 days. It was all I listened to at work. I thought I would get more tired of those songs than I did. It was a blessing to have that in my life everyday. My faith was more on my mind. I was striving more than usual to stay positive and hopeful and keep things in perspective. It was an excellent source of comfort to hear those encouraging words every day. I'm glad I took the challenge. Although I've gone back to a larger variety of music, I still listen to KLOVE often and always feel encouraged from it.
Now, for the season of lent, I am re-reading (I think this is my 5th time) The Purpose Driven Life. It is a 40 day journey, that again focuses my thoughts on my faith. It is always interesting to see how I read and interpret things differently from each time I read it based on what's happening in my life. My favorite day each time - Day 16. Summed up: "The best use of life is love. The best expression of love is time. The best time to love is now."
My relationship with the Lord is ever growing and I want to continue striving to live a life of love. I have a lot of questions, sometimes doubts, but I am learning and continuing on my journey. I enjoy my conversations with the Lord, it can be anywhere at anytime, but those little moments are pretty awesome.
Always be joyful. Never stop praying.
--1 Thessalonians 5:16-17, NLT
Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
-- Colossians 3:12
Sunday, January 1, 2012
TATE!
Let's start the new year blogging again!
I became a first-time aunt on 9/10/11. Tate William Millard is so precious. The only thing I would change would be getting to see him more often!! I can't wait to watch him grow through 2012.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Communicate
How intriguing is communication? Both verbal and non-verbal. The answer for me is extremely.
Think about how much we communicate every single day and with how many people. It is astounding. How often do we conciously think about how we communicate? How much time do we put into learning and improving our communication? The words we use and the way we use them are so important and yet there is often little thought put into them. The non-verbal signals we send in our body language, tone, eye contact and gestures for example can often say more than the words themselves. I almost think it is an art that we all use and that we all must continually work to improve.
The english language is massive. The number of words we have to choose from is outstanding, and yet there are often no words to adequately express a thought or feeling. Each one of us interprets those words in different ways. It just amazes me. There is so much room for misunderstanding. We have to be aware of this to better understand each other. I think this has lead me to occassionally be a bit over-communicative. The goal is to get as close as possible to having the other person understand my thought as I understand it. There are so many barriers in the way of that happening. We are all individuals, with different perspectives, different life experiences and backgrounds, different associations with certain words or tones, different cultures of gestures and expressions, leaving so much room for error in transmitting a thought or feeling through communications.
I won't even touch on the changes that technology bring into this! I just want to get you thinking. I am completely intrigued by communication. It is a constant for all of us. I believe this should mean it should be a constant focus for improvement as well. Think how much better work would be if everyone could learn to communicate with each other better. Think of how much better all your relationships would be if communication was improved. Even in retail or restaurants. It is a huge topic with many different facets. Just something to ponder....
Please let me know if you have any thoughts on the subject!
"Communication works for those who work at it." -John Powell
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -George Bernard Shaw
Think about how much we communicate every single day and with how many people. It is astounding. How often do we conciously think about how we communicate? How much time do we put into learning and improving our communication? The words we use and the way we use them are so important and yet there is often little thought put into them. The non-verbal signals we send in our body language, tone, eye contact and gestures for example can often say more than the words themselves. I almost think it is an art that we all use and that we all must continually work to improve.
The english language is massive. The number of words we have to choose from is outstanding, and yet there are often no words to adequately express a thought or feeling. Each one of us interprets those words in different ways. It just amazes me. There is so much room for misunderstanding. We have to be aware of this to better understand each other. I think this has lead me to occassionally be a bit over-communicative. The goal is to get as close as possible to having the other person understand my thought as I understand it. There are so many barriers in the way of that happening. We are all individuals, with different perspectives, different life experiences and backgrounds, different associations with certain words or tones, different cultures of gestures and expressions, leaving so much room for error in transmitting a thought or feeling through communications.
I won't even touch on the changes that technology bring into this! I just want to get you thinking. I am completely intrigued by communication. It is a constant for all of us. I believe this should mean it should be a constant focus for improvement as well. Think how much better work would be if everyone could learn to communicate with each other better. Think of how much better all your relationships would be if communication was improved. Even in retail or restaurants. It is a huge topic with many different facets. Just something to ponder....
Please let me know if you have any thoughts on the subject!
"Communication works for those who work at it." -John Powell
"The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -George Bernard Shaw
Monday, July 25, 2011
Music
Isn't it incredible how much power music has over your feelings?
One of my favorite things to do is jam in the car or in my living room to a great song. George thinks I'm crazy when I dance around my living room, and many people have probably seen me rocking out in my car, but I just don't particularly care. It feels so free. I feel so much through music. One of my favorite quotes is:
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." Victor Hugo
Sometimes music makes you contemplative or melancholy, other times it can make you rejoice with gratitude. Most of my favorite songs make my heart full of joy and love. No matter how it makes you feel, music can completely transform your thoughts and your mood in any gien moment. Lyrics are sometimes the cause, other times it is the beat, and some of the best songs have both. Most recently Michael Franti has been my inspiration for these thoughts on the love of music. His music sounds happy and full of love, it is kind of reggae. He provides positive messages full of hope, love and fath. I am a big believer of hope, love and faith. Here are some of my favorite lyrics.
"Life is too short to make just one decision. Music's too large for just one station. Love is too big for just one nation. And God is too big for just one religion."
"I wake up every mornin and I'm steppin on the floor, I wake up every mornin and I'm stepping out the door. I got faith in the sky, faith in the One, faith in the people rockin underneath the sun."
"My momma told me don't lose you, cause the best luck I had was you...It seems like everywhere I go the more I see the less I know"
"So if you're feelin down and out, got no place to go now. Just sing along to the music y'all, let it fill your soul now, because everyone deserves music, sweet music."
"Don't let nobody ever tell you that it couldn't be done, Don't let nobody ever tell you that we couldn't be one, Don't let nobody ever tell you that it shouldn't be sung, Don't let nobody ever tell you you're the only one. Singing hey, hey, hey No matter how life is today There's just one thing that I got to say I won't let another moment slip away."
"See when you need a friend, Somebody to walk to, My friend, somebody to talk to, I'll be right there waiting for you."
There are many more lyrics, songs, and artists that I love, this is just my most recent joy of music that I wanted to share. What are your thoughts? :)
One of my favorite things to do is jam in the car or in my living room to a great song. George thinks I'm crazy when I dance around my living room, and many people have probably seen me rocking out in my car, but I just don't particularly care. It feels so free. I feel so much through music. One of my favorite quotes is:
"Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent." Victor Hugo
Sometimes music makes you contemplative or melancholy, other times it can make you rejoice with gratitude. Most of my favorite songs make my heart full of joy and love. No matter how it makes you feel, music can completely transform your thoughts and your mood in any gien moment. Lyrics are sometimes the cause, other times it is the beat, and some of the best songs have both. Most recently Michael Franti has been my inspiration for these thoughts on the love of music. His music sounds happy and full of love, it is kind of reggae. He provides positive messages full of hope, love and fath. I am a big believer of hope, love and faith. Here are some of my favorite lyrics.
"Life is too short to make just one decision. Music's too large for just one station. Love is too big for just one nation. And God is too big for just one religion."
"I wake up every mornin and I'm steppin on the floor, I wake up every mornin and I'm stepping out the door. I got faith in the sky, faith in the One, faith in the people rockin underneath the sun."
"My momma told me don't lose you, cause the best luck I had was you...It seems like everywhere I go the more I see the less I know"
"So if you're feelin down and out, got no place to go now. Just sing along to the music y'all, let it fill your soul now, because everyone deserves music, sweet music."
"Don't let nobody ever tell you that it couldn't be done, Don't let nobody ever tell you that we couldn't be one, Don't let nobody ever tell you that it shouldn't be sung, Don't let nobody ever tell you you're the only one. Singing hey, hey, hey No matter how life is today There's just one thing that I got to say I won't let another moment slip away."
"See when you need a friend, Somebody to walk to, My friend, somebody to talk to, I'll be right there waiting for you."
There are many more lyrics, songs, and artists that I love, this is just my most recent joy of music that I wanted to share. What are your thoughts? :)
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