As I sit here on this last day of 2017, I saw this post I wrote on the last day of 2016 and it's still applicable for this year.
As I sit here on this last day of 2016, I'm thinking of all of the hopes and dreams a new year offers. I'm also thinking of the comments I've seen and heard, from a lot of people, about how they're so glad 2016 is over and behind them and how much better 2017 is going to be.
I remember that I heard the same thing at the end of 2015, and 2014, and 2013, and on and on. It got me thinking about why people feel that the past year was so bad and why they have such high hopes for the coming year.
Now, I know that life happens. I know that people lose loved ones, lose jobs, lose friends, lose homes, lose heroes, lose icons, lose symbols, lose money, lose keys even. They get sick, they break bones, they break chairs, they break nails. I know that people hang on to those losses and mourn their lives like, "Why do these things always happen to me?" At the end of the year, they look back at all of that and think, "Gosh, what a crappy year it was. Next year has got to be better."
Now, I know that life happens. I know that babies are born, people get new jobs, people meet new friends, people buy homes, people find new sources of entertainment, people make money, people find their keys. They are healthy, they heal, they have amazing furniture and healthy nails. I know that people overlook those things and hang on to those losses and mourn their lives like, "Why do those bad things always happen to me?" At the end of the year, they look back at all of the bad things that happened and think, "Gosh, what a crappy year it was. Next year has got to be better."
WHAT? The fact that you're reading this means you're alive. That's a great thing. You have electricity, a cell phone, computer or tablet. You have money. You have a place to live, most likely with a roof, most likely with a lot of things that work and are in one piece. Those are great things. You most likely have family and friends who LOVE you. That's an amazing thing. Chances are you have a job, a car, food in your pantry. Chances are you made it through the year, and last year, and the year before that conquering the battles as they came and the fact that you survived those battles made you a better person, and that's remarkable.
What is it that could turn a bad year good? GRATITUDE. Being grateful for what you have, even the smallest thing be grateful for. There are so many amazing quotes on gratitude. Look them up. Print them out. Hang them around your house. Here are a few to get you started:
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. Denis Waitley
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Melody Beattie
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. William Arthur Ward
Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for. Zig Ziglar
I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude. Brene Brown
There are so many more but the common theme through them all is simple really. Practicing daily gratitude will give you an exceptional life, year after year. Overlooking and not appreciating what you have, always wanting something you don't have, always chasing something, will give you an unfulfilled life. It's okay to want, to have goals, to go after things, but it's much better for you if you do it while appreciating what you have, and trust me, every day will give you something to be grateful for.
Earlier this year I read a book, "The Gratitude Jar: A Simple Guide to Creating Miracles". It wasn't a very long book but it's a story about how a mom took a very hectic life and learned how expressing gratitude daily, for just 30 days, could change her life and those around her.
I realize some of you are fighting real battles, life threatening battles. I know some of you are supporting family members going through those battles. I've been where you are and I know how awful that fight can be. Still, from experience, be grateful. Be grateful for the time you have with those family members. Be with them every day and every minute, if not physically then be with them spiritually with gratitude.
I also suggest keeping a Gratitude Jar. Fill it with daily notes and comments of things you were grateful for that day. I haven't done this yet but i will this year. By doing so, it will make you aware of things you have to be grateful for daily. Gratitude then becomes a habit and amazing things happen when you're grateful. Then, at the end of 2017, you can open that jar, read through those notes and feel amazing that the past year was INCREDIBLE and the next one will be EVEN BETTER, with love and gratitude.
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Saturday, September 17, 2016
My Thoughts on Life and Death
Yesterday I found out that someone I know passed away from cancer. It had been a long battle for her but it finally took her. She leaves behind her family, a husband, and 2 sons. Although she was ready to end the battle and was at peace about it, from personal experience, I know that her family felt differently. Yes, they are grateful that her suffering is over but that does nothing to fill the void she's left.
People die in life. There's a death sentence for all of us and although we may be fine with that, it's those who we leave behind that have to hold on to that emptiness where we once were. And, then there's everyone else; our friends, extended family and acquaintances. They feel the emptiness in various ways. If they've lost someone in their immediate family they can empathize with how you're feeling. If they haven't, even though they say the right words, they really don't understand. That being said, they have to continue to live their own lives, with their own families, doing their same routines, because that's life for the living. Your world stops for a time and theirs continue on. You wish yours would go on, but it doesn't, at least for a while. Over time, they think about you less as their lives take over but you never forget.
Life is meant to live. As I mentioned earlier, we all have a death sentence. How many of us are living the lives we want to live? How many of us are doing what we want to do? How many of us are working during the week, and then working around the house on the weekends, week after week, month after month, year after year? How do we break that? How do we get to the point where we have time to really live the life we want to live? How many of us are battling our own battles with something that occupies all of our time, not letting us do what we really want to do? Is that our death sentence?
People die in life. There's a death sentence for all of us and although we may be fine with that, it's those who we leave behind that have to hold on to that emptiness where we once were. And, then there's everyone else; our friends, extended family and acquaintances. They feel the emptiness in various ways. If they've lost someone in their immediate family they can empathize with how you're feeling. If they haven't, even though they say the right words, they really don't understand. That being said, they have to continue to live their own lives, with their own families, doing their same routines, because that's life for the living. Your world stops for a time and theirs continue on. You wish yours would go on, but it doesn't, at least for a while. Over time, they think about you less as their lives take over but you never forget.
Life is meant to live. As I mentioned earlier, we all have a death sentence. How many of us are living the lives we want to live? How many of us are doing what we want to do? How many of us are working during the week, and then working around the house on the weekends, week after week, month after month, year after year? How do we break that? How do we get to the point where we have time to really live the life we want to live? How many of us are battling our own battles with something that occupies all of our time, not letting us do what we really want to do? Is that our death sentence?
Thursday, February 25, 2016
My Thoughts on Apple vs FBI
I was asked the other day about my thoughts on #Apple vs the #FBI in regard to Apple unlocking the iPhone of the killer in the San Bernardino shootings.
I said that IF it's a single incidence of unlocking then they should help but that I doubted that the FBI would keep it at this single incidence.
I have since been reading that, in fact, the FBI has plans for many phones to be unlocked if Apple were to unlock this one phone. I also found out that the FBI doesn't want Apple to unlock the phone but wants Apple to write a program that will unlock it and give that program to the FBI. I also found out that the phone was unlocked the day the FBI got it and they were the ones who changed the password on it, effectively preventing Apple from recovering the data the FBI was looking for from the shooter's iCloud account.
I've seen people post that nothing is private anymore, that people have their whole lives online, that there are facial recognition cameras all over the place so why not have Apple make the unlock software and give it to the FBI?
Well, here are my thoughts now.
The FBI and the government would love to have access to all of our information, our cell phone data, our computer data, all of it; so would people who want to steal our identities, our bank account information, etc. By unlocking the security we have on our devices and technology, it opens us up to everything, and you can be sure that the government and hackers won't stop at just getting our profile information, like the things most people post online and share to the public. No, they're looking for ALL of our information and won't be satisfied until they get it.
The FBI had access to the shooter's information, until they didn't. It was their fault. What? They had it until they changed the password. The FBI have had people tell them that they can hack into that one phone if they just want that information but haven't heard back from the FBI because it's obvious that the FBI doesn't want the information from just that one phone but from hundreds of phones and then some. I feel a lot of the general population feels it's okay because it's a national security issue, but that's only one case. It goes much deeper than this one case. I'm not willing to give up that much of my freedom to the government.
I said that IF it's a single incidence of unlocking then they should help but that I doubted that the FBI would keep it at this single incidence.
I have since been reading that, in fact, the FBI has plans for many phones to be unlocked if Apple were to unlock this one phone. I also found out that the FBI doesn't want Apple to unlock the phone but wants Apple to write a program that will unlock it and give that program to the FBI. I also found out that the phone was unlocked the day the FBI got it and they were the ones who changed the password on it, effectively preventing Apple from recovering the data the FBI was looking for from the shooter's iCloud account.
I've seen people post that nothing is private anymore, that people have their whole lives online, that there are facial recognition cameras all over the place so why not have Apple make the unlock software and give it to the FBI?
Well, here are my thoughts now.
The FBI and the government would love to have access to all of our information, our cell phone data, our computer data, all of it; so would people who want to steal our identities, our bank account information, etc. By unlocking the security we have on our devices and technology, it opens us up to everything, and you can be sure that the government and hackers won't stop at just getting our profile information, like the things most people post online and share to the public. No, they're looking for ALL of our information and won't be satisfied until they get it.
The FBI had access to the shooter's information, until they didn't. It was their fault. What? They had it until they changed the password. The FBI have had people tell them that they can hack into that one phone if they just want that information but haven't heard back from the FBI because it's obvious that the FBI doesn't want the information from just that one phone but from hundreds of phones and then some. I feel a lot of the general population feels it's okay because it's a national security issue, but that's only one case. It goes much deeper than this one case. I'm not willing to give up that much of my freedom to the government.
My Thoughts on #Trump and His Followers
My thoughts on #Trump and his followers:
I see so much on Facebook about #Trump and his followers, how they are racists, undereducated, haters and more. I see my more #liberal friends grouping whole #conservative groups that same way.
I want to say that I don't agree with Trump or his beliefs but I do have thoughts one why I feel he's doing so well in the polls and primaries and I'm going to spell it out here.
There is a large part of the country that is tired of "politics as usual". They are tired of everyone getting a participation trophy when there are clear winners and losers. They are tired of the absence of common sense in the school districts when it comes to reactions to normal activities. They are tired about having their parental rights taken from them by governmental agencies who "think" they know best. They are tired of politicians dividing the country based on race, economics, sex and religion. They are tired of politicians making all of the rules, or changing the rules to fit their agendas, with total disregard to what the people of the country want or need. They are tired of the total lack of transparency that is going on with the government, at all levels. They are tired of being forced to just accept things being forced upon them, and if they don't like it they are penalized with fines, or having their children kicked out of school, or losing their jobs. They are tired of politics being bought and paid for by several companies that seem to control everything, from who gets elected to who gets jobs in key government jobs where their decisions affect millions.
They are trying to get those things changed and they are going with the one who is making the most noise about it. I don't feel that all of Trump's followers really feel the same way he does about all things, but they see him as someone who may be able to change the "politics as usual". The problem here is much deeper than #Trump and his followers.
Those are just my thoughts.
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