This is our 11-year old ChOcOLatE lab. When I got married he was part of the deal. At first I wasn’t real thrilled with this bundle of energy. He was not yet two-years old, a male (obviously), and came from a line of field champions. Since that time I’ve come to love this dog. In fact, I’ve never met another dog like Walter. For one, he thinks he is human. He acts like it too. So much so, that when friends and family come over they just can’t help but laugh at him. Whether it be helping himself to the crock-pot of chili on the counter and dumping it on the floor, opening a door, or escaping from several confinement scenarios, he always keeps us entertained.
You’ll hear more in the future from Walter, but for now he would like to leave you with his favorite quote. It comes from WiNsToN ChUrChiLL:
Some of the best advice my parents gave me was this: If you ever want what someone else has, then be prepared to take all that comes with it!
It is easy to look at another person’s life and pick and choose what we would want for our own, but be sure to ReMinD yourself that no situation is PERFECT. Being a celebrity would mean wealth and fame but it also means being followed by paparazzi and never getting privacy. Being a successful business owner means having the freedom of being your own boss but it also means working around the clock. I’m not saying that these positions are bad, but it is easy to only want one part of that life without the other. Unfortunately picking and choosing isn’t ReaLitY.
When finding yourself discouraged that your life isn’t as good as the family down the street, be sure to look closely at everything that comes with it. Often times you’ll realize that switching lives with them may not be worth giving up all the bLeSSinGs you have after all!
~Lara
(Thanks Mom and Dad for helping me realize this VERY early in life. I wouldn’t change my life growing up as a farm kid for anything!)
Many times when we start off towards a goal or dream, it is because we are unsatisfied with some area in our life. It may be that we have failed miserably and are hoping to make a change. Misery after all, can be a GrEaT mOtiVaTor. If that is the case, then, how can we gain confidence if we don’t have many successes under our belt?
I have found the best way to RacK uP sUcCeSs is one small step at a time. This is really important because success breeds success. How do you do this? By setting a goal that is just at the end of your fingertips. Something small and attainable, but also something that is going to require you to do something that you haven’t already done. Then, as you begin to experience success you can little by little set bigger goals.
Don’t overlook the PoWeR of achieving a small goal! I originally would look down on setting small goals. They didn’t seem challenging enough to me, so I never set any. My goals were always BIG ones that had no guarantees and were much riskier. They were also few and far between. This was a huge mistake because I missed out on laying a foundation of successes.
If your goal is to get organized, don’t think that organization means spending an entire Saturday getting your messy space organized. Your small step of success may be to spend 15 minutes a day on that project. Each time you spend 15 minutes towards this goal, you have chalked up a success. Do this for seven days and you have seven successes tallied up! Maybe you are far from seeing that space organized, but you getting closer to your goal and are developing CoNfiDenCe because you are experiencing success.
This approach allows you to succeed every day. What are the small steps you can take beginning today?
Enjoy Your Small Successes Today!
~Robynn
P.S. Today’s post is an excerpt from a book I’m currently writing on my path to peace with food. I’m writing this book in conjunction with our six-month challenge. Thanks for the inspiration!
S U M M E R break officially (according to me) begins next weekend and many people are beginning to plan vacations and get-a ways. If yours includes a road trip, here is a game you can play with your family to make the time go by faster! My niece, a member of the BaKeR UniVerSitY softball team, told me about this game a couple of days ago and it made me laugh! She and her teammates play it on their road trips. The name of the game is “HeY CoW!!” The object of this game is to yell out your window, “Hey Cow!!” every time you see a cow and see how many cows look at you. Give yourself a point for each cow that looks your way. Take turns and see who has tallied the most points by the end of the trip. That person is the WiNnEr!
Have a favorite game you like to play when traveling? Mind sharing? Comment below!!
This year has been an eye-opening one when it comes to taking BeTTeR CaRe of my skin. Shortly after my 27th birthday I had 4 pre-cancerous moles, which involved having them surgically removed and unfortunately leaving me with 2 scars on my stomach, one on my face and 1 on my arm. I don’t spend much time in the sun but have had occasional sunburns in my life. Skin cancer is serious stuff, but nothing to be afraid of as long as you keep a closeeye on your skin changes. I now wear makeup (or moisturizer) that has SPF 18 daily, get full body exams from my dermatologist every 6-12 months and MONITOR my skin REGULARLY. This requires minimal effort, and as a result, keeps me healthy and worry free.
May is Melanoma Awareness Month. Please watch and pass this video on to anyone you can.
~Lara
(*Although this scar on my arm is an obvious one, it serves as a great ReMinDeR to protect my skin on a daily basis.)
My daughter LOVES StarFall! Starfall.com is a FREE website that teaches children how to read and write. When I first heard about Starfall my daughter was 2 ½ years old. After introducing Starfall to her she quickly learned her alphabet and letter sounds. This website is so FuN and EnGaginG that children don’t realize they are learning!
Starfall recently added an extended version to their website. Spend $35 and receive a 1-year membership that will include math songs, colors, nursery rhyme videos and much more! We purchased the membership and our whole family loves it. I try to sit down with Leanne when she wants to get on Starfall so we can share in the activities together. What a great way to INTERACT and help your child LEARN!
At the VERY least, try out the FREE version and share this wonderful website with others!
We all seem to have that InFaMoUs GoRillA hanging around – that thing that is larger than life, distracting, paralyzing, and oh so annoying.
My 800 pound gorilla? “All-Or-Nothing” thinking. I’m not sure why I deal with this issue. I’ve tried to trace it back to my childhood, my personality and a host of other psychological explanations, but to no avail. Sometimes it really doesn’t matter “why”, you just need to get on with it and deal with the “what”.
This issue first surfaced for me as af freshman in college. In high school I was a good student. I did exactly what my teachers asked and as a result got A’s and B’s. However, when I went to college and realized I could not read the 1,000 pages assigned in a particular class for one week I threw up my hands and simply gave up. I never got any D’s, but I did get plenty of C’s – something that previously was foreign to me. My “All-Or-Nothing mindset just wouldn’t let me AdApT aNd AdJuSt to the situation. I made it through college alright, but did so disappointed, knowing that I did not reach my potential and definitely did not give it my best.
As time went on my “All-Or-Nothing” thinking continued to plague me in other areas of my life until I finally said, “EnOuGh!”
(I’ll share how I’ve learned to deal with this issue in future posts. So, stay tuned…!)
I may not have mastered this entirely (YET) but the one thing I have to say is. . .
It is a special treat for me to buy one and then carve out a time to enjoy diving in. I love looking at the pictures, reading the interesting bits of information, and looking at the eye-catching titles and subtitles. My favorite ones are those that deal with home & garden, women’s magazines that contain household tips and recipes, ones that contain interesting places, and magazines that are motivating and inspirational. Any time I find something that jumps out at me I rip it out and put it in a basket. From time to time I take these magazine pages out to enjoy once again. I’ve even put some of these pages in plastic sheet protectors and then in a 3-ring binder. As a result, I have compiled my own “magazine” chalk full of my favorite articles, photos, and covers!Tell us what inspires you by commenting below. In doing so you will be eligible to win the magazines shown below. Winner will be announced on Saturday, May 21, 2011.
