6 Steps to Fake It Till You Make It

We live in the NOW, but we want something different TOMORROW, but YESTERDAY often holds us back.

Does that describe you?

Do you want more out of life? Do you want to be MORE...whatever that may mean?

Some people struggle to even believe they can make their dreams come true. They can't see themselves as any more than what they are today.

Those are the people that need to heed the advice often spouted in humor: "Fake it till you make it." They don't know that really means to imagine that person who does something amazing and to act like that person. 

One must create a greater vision of self before it will ever become reality. The easiest way to do that is by acting like that person you want to be. To fake it until it's true in reality. "But," you ask. "How do I fake something like that?"

What follows is my advice to someone who wants to be a writer. Simply change the "writing" to whatever you want out of your life.

7 Steps to Help You Fake It Until You Make It

Step 1: Create Self-Talk That Expresses the You in the Future

Do things like look in the mirror as you're getting ready for the day and say, "I would like to thank the Readers who made this possible by buying so many books that I was catapulted onto the New York Times bestsellers list."

Or, "I'd like to thank the movie's producers for this Academy award because they took my book and adapted it for this movie." Or, whatever addresses your particular big dream.

Step Two: Dress for the Success you want.

It's no lie that when you work from a home office, you tend to dress comfortably or as in many cases, like a slob. 

Instead, try dressing comfortably as well as attractively. You may be surprised that you'll accomplish more if you look a little more professional. 

Step Three: Act AS IF you have already achieved your dream.

How would you act if  you were already living that life you dream about? Would you be more optimistic? More at peace with everything and everyone? Would you be calmer and less stressed? Act that way when you become frustrated or annoyed. Be that you, not the past you who's easily upset.

Step Four: Speak AS IF you are the future you.

Avoid speaking negativity. Always speak with optimism about your work, your dream, your daily routine. Have a conversation with someone about the work you're doing toward that big dream. Envision completing the work and the rewards that will come your way.

Step Five: Act By Doing 1 Tiny Task Every Day

Many people can't get going on their dreams or can't continue working toward it because they set an unrealistic task for themselves each day. 

Let's get real. Instead of saying, "I'm going to write 1,000 words every day," say, "I'm going to write for 10 minutes each day." That's it. Ten minutes is easy.

Anyone can do it. It's set to be easy because getting started is the hardest action to take every day. Once you've overcome the inertia and started, you'll keep going.

Step Six: Review

When the day is done, review the day. What did you do? What did you say to yourself? What did you say to others? 

How did you feel after interacting with someone in which you acted like "future you?" 

How did you feel after doing your Tiny Task? Did you go past that Tiny Task? 

Most important of all, did you make progress? Do you feel empowered to do the same tomorrow? 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Use these 6 Steps whenever you need them. Keep a vision of your future self always in your mind. Go forth and conquer!

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IS IT EVER TOO LATE TO START A WRITING CAREER?

Is it ever too late to start writing with the goal of publishing?

I received that question in an email. I didn't answer right away because my inclination was to say, "It's never too late." because I firmly believe that it's never too late to do something if you really are passionate about it.

Instead, I did a little research to add to what I already knew to be true to go along with my personal opinion.

OLD AUTHORS GET PUBLISHED 

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett had an article that addresses this question. Published in The Writer's Toolbox, Writing Into Your Seventies and Beyond, answers this question beautifully.

She cites May Sarton, one of the examples I was going to give, who wrote and had published dozens of books—poetry, fiction, children’s books, and nonfiction into her early eighties. 

DeMarco-Barrett goes on to give a dozen other successful, older authors as examples and posits that the writings of many older authors grow richer with age. I agree with that assessment. As long as the brain functions well, there's no end date for an author.

ALWAYS WRITING, FINALLY PUBLISHED

In case you haven't heard of PEGGY ROWE, a New York Times bestselling author and the mother of Mike Rowe, TV star, podcaster, and proponent of blue-collar careers, read on. 

Mrs. Rowe wrote all of her life. She typed up her slice-of-life personality pieces and secured the pages on her fridge with magnets. 

She'd tried to get her work published but received only rejections. That didn't stop her from writing. Through her son Mike, she had a publishing offer which was rescinded when she turned in what she'd written. Her son had 10,000 copies of her manuscript printed, talked about it on his podcast, and the print run sold out in a few days.

That made the publisher who'd rejected her work take a second look. She was offered another contract. To make a long story short, this 80-something first-time author has hit the New York Times bestsellers' list with each book she's published. 

Have you always written? Is it your passion?

HARRY BERNSTEIN published his first book at 98. LORNA PAGE was 93. 

Read the article, It's Never Too Late To Begin Writing, that cites several examples from the distant past and from the last few years about older authors.

One thing you should know about these older authors mentioned above is that they were all published by traditional print-based publishing houses, not self-published. 

I'll be the first to admit that these 90-something authors wrote beautifully and had an enormous amount of luck in getting "discovered" by editors/agents. In today's world, it still very hard to accomplish that feat whether young or old. 

SELF-PUBLISHING

How many self-published first-time authors are over the age of 60? I have no idea. To my knowledge, no one has conducted a study of that. I'll take a guess and say a great many. I was over 40 when I received my first publishing contract. At that time, I knew dozens of authors just like me who had been rejected time and time again. Many of those never made the jump to publication. 

Then the Kindle happened, and, suddenly, all those authors who'd wanted to be published had a way to make it happen without a New York publishing house or an agent. 

I personally know of at least a dozen who jumped at the chance to get their books into print. They've done quite well because their books were excellent, well-written novels. They just didn't fit the pigeion-holes required by agents and New York editors.

BOTTOM LINE

I stand by my first impulsive answer to the question: "Is it ever too late to start a writing career?" My  answer? "No. It's not."

You can write fiction or nonfiction about almost anything and find an audience if you write well and produce a book with good production values. You just have to possess the desire to put words on paper to show others the story you have in your head and be willing to learn the publishing end of it or delegate those aspects like editing, proofreading, format, cover art, etc. to others.

 

I'm not saying New York will sign you to a contract and acclaim you as the next genius novelist.

I am saying if you produce a good book, you can find an audience.

In today's world, if traditional publishers say no, you have alternatives, or you can choose indie self-publishing from the beginning.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

You can absolutely have a successful, fulfilling writing career even if you're not young. It's never too late. You'll never know until you try.

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How I'm Spending My Summer

Maybe you knew, but I didn't realize that the last post I made on SlingWords was 11 days ago.

How did this happen? Because we're in Phase 1 of home renovation and also building a workshop as an extension on the garage.

At the same time, we completed our landscaping project in the front yard.

Oh, and we now have a second home. We call it—Home Depot. Not a day goes by that we don't visit our second home at least once. Some days, we're there 2 or 3 times.

WHAT'S FUNNY ABOUT HOME REMODELING?

Absolutely nothing. Then again, every joke you ever heard about home renovation and contractors is true. You'll just groan as you laugh.

You pay contractors bundles of money, and wonder why. They start work, and then disappear. 

To be fair, I do understand their process. They bid a job, schedule a team to show up, and they do. You're thrilled that soon your project will be completed.

Then, two days later, one or more takes off early. The project manager disappears, and you don't see him again. 

He's delegated the project to his main man who works with the crew but more or less oversees the project.

A few days later, no one shows up. You start calling to see when someone will arrive to continue work. After that, it's always a surprise when significant progress gets made.

Why? Because the project manager you hired only bids projects. He has to keep new projects in the pipeline in order to have a secure income stream.

The men who do the actual work also bid projects so they'll have something lined up when they finish your job.

MY TIME

Unfortunately, my time is not my own. That book I'm trying to finish? It's not happening. Eeach day, I head to my office. 

About 15 minutes later, Darling Hubby dashes into the house to ask me where I want a light fixture positioned or will I go to Home Depot and pick up some screws with "star" heads to attach OSB to studs.

Eventually, I get back to the office, but the rest of the day is much the same. I've just given up doing anything that requires a dedicated block of time longer than 15 minutes. 

Eventually the workshop will be finished—by mid-July I hope—and Phase 1 of reno will be completed too. 

We'll breathe a sigh of relief, and I'll get back to my daily routine and get this darn book written. 

Time will pass, and we'll forget all the disccomfort and frustration we endured.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

  Time will pass, and we'll  begin to talk about Phase 2 of our home renovation. I can only hope someone talks us out of it!

Do you love to read? I do. Reading a book has saved my sanity during this reno. I'm happy to invite you to sign up for my free newsletter, I LOVE READING. You'll receive exclusive content, news about book bargains, and new release notices. SIGN UP TODAY.

QUICK QUIZ - ARE YOU OVERSCHEDULED?

Summer is here—I love summer! Yet, I feel tired and frazzled because I can't spend the day outside in my garden.

Why? I asked myself that question. I answered the question too. I'm overscheduled.

If you feel frazzled and frustrated, maybe you're overscheduled too. Here's a quick quiz to help you.

If you can answer YES to 5 of these questions, you need to take a step back and change something in your life or your daily schedule.

(1) Do you frequently forget to do something you said you'd do?

(2) When you wake in the morning, do you dread getting out of bed because of all the tasks facing you?

(3) Do you skip breakfast because you need to tackle your projects right away?

(4) Do you feel pressed for time so you skim emails or save them for later rather reading and responding immediately?

(5) Do you eat lunch at your desk because you can't take 20-30 minutes for a real lunch because your computer may explode from the volume of email and social media posts that are stacked up?

(6) Do you want to spend time with your hobbies or just reading a book or watching a movie with the family, but you never find the time to do any of that?

(7) Do you feel discouraged as you're trying to fall asleep at night because you didn't accomplish enough even though you worked from sunrise to sunset?

WHAT TO DO

What to do if you're overscheduled? Maybe you wrongly feel that everything is your responsibility. Maybe you need to delegate tasks or eliminate some entirely. Maybe you need to learn to say NO. Maybe you need to be more assertive.

I don't have the answer to your overscheduling problem, but I bet you do. Most of us know what we should do to clear out a clutter-filled day, but we don't do it. 

Tackle the really important tasks in your world, and do the best you can. At the end of the day, leave all of that behind and enjoy your personal life.

It's easy to get caught up and feel you have to do it all, but there is something very important to remember. 

Despite all the propaganda to the contrary, no one can do it all. 

Do the best you you and make a plan to deal with the rest. More importantly, make a plan to free up enough time to have a real life.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Your personal life should be enjoyed, and your personal time should be protected. Personal relationships and fun nourish the soul and warm the heart.

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Think As You Wake

In Darling Hubby's Happy Friday post, I read this quote and liked it so much that I'm sharing it here with you.

These wise words came from the Dalai Lama. I'm sorry. I don't know which incarnation of the Dalai Lama said it.

In case you don't know exactly who the Dalai Lama is, he is the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th, and he is 90 years old.

The Dalai Lama served as the resident spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet before 1959.

After that year, he led the Tibetan government in exile as represented by the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamsala, India.

Now you know who he is so let me share what he said. 

"Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards 

others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can."

I'd like to take that apart and present each thought separtely and put a personal emphasis on his words. 

As you wake up each day, think these thoughts.

I am fortunate to be alive.

I AM a precious human life.

I am not going to waste my life.

I am going to use all my energies to develop myself.

I am going to use all my energies to expand my heart out to other.

I am going to use all my energies to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings.

I am going to have kind thoughts toward others.

I am not going to get angry at other people or think badly of them.

I am going to benefit others as much as I can.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Those are wise words that I hope you take to heart. They're another way of saying, "Be a blessing to others." Have a lovely Sunday.

Books are little vacations between two covers. Pick up a book today and take a vacation!

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Memories of Mom, a WW2 Beauty

I think of my Mom often, not just on Mother's Day. She had a remarkable life which is detailed in her memoir which I edited and published, MEMORY LANE: MY SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY.

Mom was born during the Roaring Twenties. Her life experience living in rural Louisiana was vastly different from someone living in a city. 

Here are some random thoughts about her and her life as they have popped into my mind this morning.

GREAT DEPRESSION

When the great Depression hit, she remembers how her mother would save anything left from a meal to feed the men who traveled the country, looking for work. They'd knock on the back door, and she'd givc the men whom people called hobos who rode the rails whatever she could scrounge up.

LIPSTICK

She never left the house without her lipstick. She came of age when red lipstick was what all the women wore. Although she changed lipstick shades with the passing years, she still made sure she had her lipstick on when she went to town.

BOOKS

She always had a book she was reading. Subconsciously, that must have been why I was an early reader who discovered the magic of reading. She never got rid of a book she bought. I have most of her collection now.

HAIR STYLES

My mother had beautiful dark brown hair with an auburn cast to it. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she didn't "bob" her hair until she married. She used bobby pins to secure finger waves and curls each night.

ROSIE THE RIVETER HAD NOTHING ON MY MOM

Like many women, when the country went to war, she went to work—in a factory that made cannon shells. Many of her friends worked there and so did men who had been rejected for armed service for one reason or another. 

She, like the other girls, fixed their hair, put on their lipstick, and dressed nicely to report each day for work. She never thought her "war service" was anything out of the ordinary. It was just something she did out of patriotism.

SKIN CARE

I can remember very few times when my mom didn't "cream" her face at night to remove her makeup. She used Pond's Face Cream, slathered it on, wiped it off with Kleenex, and blotted with a warm wash cloth to remove any greasy residue. Then came her nightly moisturizer before bed. When she passed at 83, her skin was still beautiful—soft and lustrous. Sure she had wrinkles, but the texture of her skin was amazing.

FAMILY

Family and family histories meant everything to her. Her father lived to be 100, and she knew all the family truths and legends. She wrote 4 books on family genealogy that are in the collections of the NY Public Library, the Mormom Library in Utah, and in other public libraries. 

Sadly, all of those have been pirated and posted online over the years without any attribution to her. When that first started, she was so sad. She respected copyright and was shocked that many people didn't.

She wanted me to do something about it, but there was little that could be done. She'd really be upset to know how often books are pirated in today's world.

FOOD

She was an amazing home chef. Every week she made a cake. That's why I wrote a cake recipe book and called it FRIDAY IS CAKE DAY. Much of what I cook came from her recipes. Yet, none of it ever matches my memory of the taste of her food. I think hers always tasted better, but I guess that's just sentimentality.

RELIGION

Like her parents, my mother was christened in the Methodist Church. Her great grandfather's brother had been a Methodist Circuit Rider so the family religion was Methodist. Later, my Dad persuaded her to change to Baptist, but she was at home in many churches from Catholic to Pentecostal. I think she believed like her dad that religious affiliation wasn't checked at the door to Heaven.

MOVIES and MUSIC

The movies inspired the styles for hair, makeup, and fashion. Big Band music was the soundtrack of everyone's life in that era. My mom's favorite was Glenn Miller. She had his 4 record volume and played it often.

I grew up listening to that music of her teen years. Later, she loved all of the early rock and roll music and played it often. It wasn't unusual to get a call from her and hear her say, "I've been dancing on the porch to Jerry Lee Lewis."

Tap dancing, jitter bug, romantic comedy with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Cary Grant, Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, and all the other famous movie stars provided the entertainment for America. My mom loved it all and never lost her fascination for those stars who became part of the war effort.

MEMORABLE DAYS

The Martians Are Attacking

She was a child when the radio show "War of the Worlds" starring Orson Welles was broadcast. The radio in her home was broken so she didn't hear the broadcast. The next day when she went to school, the other kids was talking about. Everyone was afraid. Apparently, they had missed the introduction to the radio show that said it was a story by H. G. Wells. She was terrified and rushed home. Her father told her it wasn't true. No Martians were attacking. That fear stayed with her for the rest of her life. She hated science fiction and refused to read or watch it in movies or TV.

Pearl Harbor

Mom lived in a rural area with only a very small town nearby. They subscribed to the daily newspaper, but that was old news by the time it was delivered. Everyone received news on their home radio.When news of the attack on Pearl Harbor came, everyone checked their hunting rifles and shotguns—making ready to defend their families and their homes. She said everyone was scared but patriotic and had faith that the President would set things to rights. She heard Franklin Roosevelt's impassioned speech about Pearl Harbor, after which boys just out of high school and those who hadn't yet graduated were signing up for the army.

Rationing

Nearly everything was rationed—sugar, meat, tires, gasoline, coffee, butter, shoes, and processed foods. Every family had a raion book. Women rallied to the task of "making do" with what was available. My mom learned to make things like Tomato Gravy over rice, pilchard (a canned fish similar to sardines) gravy over rice, and cakes made without eggs, butter, sugar that tasted amazing.

The End of War

When the war ended, everything changed again. The soldiers came home. No more rationing. No more job working for the war effort. My mom was suddenly unemployed because the returning soldiers needed jobs. She went to work as a telephone operator. She was one of those at a switchboard at the telephone company who would respond to a ring on the switchboard and answer with, "Number please."

You see, back in those days, there were no touch tone phones and most of the country did not have dial phones. The operator used a board with plugs and wires that would connect one caller to another. In fact, may people did not have private phone lines. They had party lines with several people sharing the same phone line. Each person had a different ring, i.e. one person's phone might ring twice and repeat. Another's might ring four times. Etc.

She loved her job and ended up working switchboard at various times thorugh the 1960s when switchboards were done away with.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH 

My Mom was a beauty, a hard-worker, a survivor, and the smartest woman I ever knew. I love her—present tense, not past tense because love is everlasting. If your mom is still with you, cherish her.

Joan participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, affiliate advertising designed to help websites earn advertising fees by linking to products on Amazon. If you click an Amazon link in her post, she may receive a small commision at no extra cost to you.

Time Keeps On Ticking Ticking

Lord Chesterfield famously said, "Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination: never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."

We all bemoan the lack of time to do everything we need to do and want to do, but ask yourself: how do I use my time?

Do you spend your allotted hours each day effectively or do you frivolously spend your hours in the purusit of entertainment?

 Everyone is given the same 24 hours a day. How do some people create success, prosperity, and happiness and others muddle along in a life full of discouragement?

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Success starts with attitude, desire to live full of joy, belief in oneself, and learning to use time effectively. There are a million books, classes, videos, and lectures that teach one how to harness the potential inside. Believe.

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Sunday Thoughts - 15 More Things Money Can't Buy

A while back I wrote a post, Top 15 Things Money Can’t Buy based on a quotation by Roy T. Bennett.

That post was full of wisdom. Nothing on the list above can be purchased, but anyone can possess each item shown.

Today, I thought I'd add to the list if I could.

This is today's list of things you cannot buy, but you can possess.

Knowledge. Resilience. Wisdom. Friends. Self-Confidence. Sense of Humor. Good Judgment. Generosity. Creativity. True Success. Compassion. Empathy. Innate Talent. Optimism. Gratitude.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

That's my list. Do you have some qualities to add to my list or Mr. Bennett's list in my original post? If so, leave them in comments.

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Daylight Savings Time Strikes Again

I like Benjamin Franklin, but I wish he'd kept his thoughts about time to himself.

Yes, he's the culprit we can blame for making us spring forward in the spring and fall back in the fall.

He came up with this daylight savings concept in 1784. Actually, he wasn't really trying to "save" daylight. He simply made the statement that Parisians could save money on candles if they changed their sleep schedules.

If you recall your history, Franklin was in Paris as the first U.S. Ambassador to France. He was there for the ratification of the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War.

I guess he had time on his hands and rather than twiddle his thumbs, he came up with his daylight savings concept to help Parisians save money.

The rest, as they say, is history. The U.S. adopted it in 1918, but it was repealed in 1919 because it was so unpopular. Then in World War II, it was instituted again as year-round "War Time."

In 1966, the Uniform Time Act signed, but in 1974-1975, it was temporarily made year-round again due to an oil embargo. In 2007, the current biannual schedule began.

The bottom line? We're stuck with it, and, despite grumbling from the general population, daylight savings time continues.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

The first couple of weeks are the worst. Be careful. Sleep more. Make sure you're awake before you zoom off to work each day. Take care. We're all in this together, but we can get through it. Again.

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7 Truths About Being an Author

I visited with a local book club recently and enjoyed it very much. They had read my book, Heat Lightning, and we talked about it.

As usual, they asked what inspired me to write that book, and what inspired me just to write books.

I told them that writing was one of the best jobs in the world—and it is. 

What I didn't tell them is something I'll tell you today—what a professional writer learns when she or he is lucky enough to establish a writing career.

7 TRUTHS ABOUT BEING A PROFESSIONAL WRITER.

1. Perfecctly good books get written but never get published.

I once believed that you could write a book about anything that struck your fancy, and if it was a good book it would get published. 

The traditional publishing business doesn't work that way. There  are budgets and quotas that prevent publishing just any book no mattter how beautifully written it may be. Editors can only acquire so many books.

When your Agent submits your book—yes, you really do need an agent—you don't know if the editor recently acquired a book with the same premise. 

You don't know if the Editor has already acquired books for the entire year or longer, or any number of other issues that prevent the Editor from acquiring your book.

The indie self-publishing business allows you to go ahead and publish the book, but publishing a book and getting readers to buy it are 2 different things. More on that later.

2. Writing successfully requires a commitment. 

You cannot sit around and wait each day to be inspired. The "Muse" is a myth. Real writers put butt in chair in front of the computer and write hundreds of words on a consistent basis until the book is finished.

3. No one knows how long it takes to write and publish a book.

The number of pages and the time it takes to write a book depends on the story and on the writer.

A story takes as many pages as it takes. It may be 140 pages or 980 pages. 

How long it takes to write those pages depends on the writer and his/her consistency of effort.

4. Writing is hard work physically so one must take care of the physical body from the beginning.

Prevent problems like back spasms, sciatic pain, carpel tunnel, etcetera, rather than try to "cure" them once they begin. Trust me, once established, muscle, tendon, and nerve pain are nearly impossible to cure. You'll be dealing with them the rest of your life.

5. Writing is hard work emotionally so nurture your spirit and your inspiration.

Take time to play. Take time for your relationships. Sometimes, you just need to go with the flow and make up the writing you may have missed on a day when you played. 

Pages can be written another day, but time with loved ones can't be reclaimed. Life is short. Children grow up while you aren't looking, and love relationships can grow stale.

6. Accept that not every good book will sell well.

As I said in #1 above, publishing a book and getting readers to buy it are 2 different things. Yes, as an indie self-publisher, you can publish anhthig you choose, but it may not sell more than a few copies—even if it has captivating characters, a stunning plot, and is beautifully written.

That's the downside of not having a traditional publisher who buys a manuscript based in part on how many thousands of books will sell based on the Editor's calculations. 

As an indie publisher, you hope and pray that enough books will sell to allow you to break even on any expenses you incurred in writing and publishing the book.

You have no guarantees though. If you have had previous success, you have a pretty good idea of how another book will sell.

In today's self-publishing world, i.e. Kindle Digital Publishing, the competition is fierce. The vast majority of these books rarely make more than a few hundred dollars.

You, the Author, are also the VP of Marketing which means you're going to spend a lot of time hawking your book on social media or with Amazon Ads and/or Facebook ads.

The best case scenario is to find a marketing channel that works for you as soon as possible because you need to be writing the next book.

7. There is no such thing as an instant million copy seller in today's book publishing universe.

The first book may sell, and that's great, but today's readers consume books like movie-goers consume popcorn. Your name will fade away if it's not out in the world on a consistent, regular basis.

The second and third and fourth books—or the 10th—build your reputation as a dependable author who doesn't disappoint.

Don't mope and/or drown your sorrows in hot fudge sundaes. 

Get on with the next book whether that's book #2 or book #10. Sometims, that's what it takes for a writer to build an audience.

TAKEWAY TRUTH

Writers write. If you love writing, keep doing it. If you find it depressing and tedious to pour your heart and soul in a book that earns less than $500.00, then you're probably not cut out to be a professional writer. That's okay. You're probably meant to do something else so try different things until you find your bliss.

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Thought for the Week - Age

 

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Don't let your age define you.

People of every age achieve amazing things.

Just believe in yourself.

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Sunday Thoughts - What Is a Blessing?

When I was a child, my brothers and I took turns "saying the blessing" before meals.

"Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts..." and so on. 

As children, we didn't think much about it or the real meaning of the words we were taught to say.

As a church goer, another habit from childhood but one I cherish for many reasons, I learned the profound meaning of those words learned in childhood.

DEFINITIONS

If you look up the word blessing, you'll find these definitions: "a prayer asking for God's favor and protection, grace said before or after a meal, a beneficial thing for which one is grateful, sanction or support."

ACKNOWLEDGE BLESSINGS

I'm not talking about religion now even though I do acknowledge the blessings I have based upon my beliefs. I am truly grateful for those blessings. 

I'm talking about why it's a good thing to acknowledge blessings whether they come from your religion or from your neighbor next door. Acknowledging a blessing is conscious recognition of the beneficial thing you have received and being apprciative of it.

APPRECIATION = GRATITUDE

Being grateful or feeling gratitude has been scientifically proven to benefit people.

In fact, gratitude has been proven to enhance physical and mental health because it reduces stress hormones like cortisol and increases the feel-good neurotransmitters, serotonin and dopamine.

Feelings of gratitude promote cardiovascular health, boosts immune function, lowers blood pressure, and improves sleep. It also helps crete emotional resilience and deeper social connections. It can help with pain management and help you live longer too.

EXPRESSING GRATITUDE

You can express gratitude in many ways like saying grace or a blessing—which was the inspiration for today's post. Listening to a blessing took me back to my childhood and the blessings and prayers I was taught.

Throughout the morning, I kept thinking about the reason behind those words of appreciation or gratitude. I believe in keeping track of the blessings, or beneficial things, that happen each day even if it's something like, "the wind didn't blow off the winterized wraps on the loquat tree."

Try writing in a notebook or a journal about the commonplace or extraordinary happenings in your life each day that may be blessings in disguise. Be grateful. 

Express that gratitude to a person who does something kind for you or express it on the pages of a journal or express it in a prayer if that's what speaks to you.

What do you think about the subject of blessings?

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

 Well, that's my Sunday Thoughts for this cold, wintry day. Have a great week ahead.

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