New day, new dreams...

Pick a new dream!
Impossible it did seem.
Yet, time has dried
The tears on my face.
I'm stepping out
in God's grace...

Dreaming!

Silver Linings

FAMILY

LOVE

Faith
Future
Adventure
Unknowns
Wisdom
Wit
Discovery
Growing
Celebration
Gratitude
Fun
Tending
Sharing

FOREVER

Investing in love...

It was only a phone call, but I could hear the raised eyebrows in her voice as she said,  "Oh, you're one of those!"  Yes, I'm an investor!

What does investing mean?  The dictionary says it means to use resources to participate in an enterprise that offers the possibility of gain.  I think it means pouring one's heart, soul, and mind into something you care about.   It also involves money, time, and knowledge.    And it happens at its best over the long term.  It's really about LOVE.

Ask a parent:  he or she will tell you that this is true with growing children.

Ask a spouse:  he or she will tell you that the long road is the one treasured in the world of relationships.

Ask a banker:  he or she will tell you that this definition is true with money.

Ask a Realtor:  he or she will tell you that it is also true with property values.

I love the story of the Velveteen Rabbit.  Read it if you haven't ever.   Investing will mean losing some of your fur because your cause will require ALL of you.   But you won't care.  Because over the long term in the seeming imperfection, the goal is met!

How will you invest in 2014?

Happy 2014

In five years you will be changed by what you read and whom you meet.    Linda

Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey, suggests that we read differently if we are planning to teach others what we have just read and learned. Sounds like a good New Year's habit to me! It does change how we read. It is also a very powerful way to teach children. Empower him or her to teach someone or something else that's inanimate, the very skill or behavior we want him or her to learn. I first read about this strategy in a favorite book for two year olds written by Azrin and Fox many years ago. It is obvious that I have been around lots of children this holiday. While I am culling my historical library shelves, let me tell you about another favorite book written by Smith and Smith. This is appropriate for the New Year and reading about habits.

Most of us evaluate some part of our life that we want to improve when the New Year rolls around. We may resist New Year's Resolutions, but there is quietly some behavior that we hope to improve slightly in the New Year. I bring you two new ways of looking at this resolution process.

New habits build in twenty-one days if we actually engage in a daily small change behavior. The earth is not flat. Life is not flat. The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson says we curve upward or downward in our life process depending on our daily choices. Here's the second thought that comes from Smith and Smith. Brushing your teeth daily probably happened because you learned event time. This is different from clock time. Brushing your teeth happened before the event of going to bed. Which brings me to the event time of new behaviors for 2014.

Before I go to bed I will….
Before I leave the house I will….
Before I have breakfast I will…
Before I shower I will…
Before I whatever, I will….

I love choices. I also know that accountability builds with commitments. I can't tell you what I will be doing every morning at 9 a.m. but I can tell you that my unconscious mind will not let me leave the house unaware of a commitment to a certain behavior….before I go.

So, that is my challenge and new thought for you. Add EVENT TIME to your lives and resolutions for slight changes for the better in 2014. Slight changes give you the slight edge and make a difference over time. Everyone likes to experience success. I think that using event time aligns all personal resources to master a commitment.

Now for Seven Habits…you'll hear more about what I have learned as I finish the book.

2013 Reflections

I love the string of colored lights I turned on by the window and the tree filled with snow, standing outside the front window, visible to me next to the red stockings hung on the mantle.

What a holiday season. We started with thanks back in November. Then we moved to the natural response of giving. It is wonderful to hear stories of people's lives being touched by love because of hearts reaching out.

This Christmas was filled with music and children. What better reflection of the Christ Child could there be!! The pinnacle of love.

It's strange but maybe the hardest part of the season is the tenderness it creates, that opens to all reality, even that of harshness and loss. I know we will all "toughen up" as 2014 moves us along. We will become highly intellectual again about good and bad. We will become task focused and check off the list. We will heal from winter bugs that slipped in or pulled us down.

But I hope we won't forget completely...that we were touched by the love of this Christmas season. And we are different because of it. We are richer and fuller because we paused a moment, maybe not much longer, to be grateful and to be loved...to love and to give.

What a year! Thank you, 2013.

Happy New Year!

Ocean Reflections...

Where does it start?

Where does it end?

The ocean waters wonder

As they wave their white flags

In defiance or surrender.

Gravity is serious stuff!

What's it like to be a cloud,

Floating serenely with fluff?

A school of many

Cuts the water below.

Black and white behemoth

Leap as they blow.

Where there's a will

There's a way...

That's what the

Hearty ones say.

I think it's a mystery--

We may never know why

The ocean is water

And there's air in the sky.

The way ahead means don't quit;

Even if you blunder, the path is lit..

It always turns out

One way or the other.

The journey is what matters

Surprises to discover.

Thanksgiving in Seattle 2013

Puget Sound Photos