June 2026 – Page 2

Courage in Practice

Courage is not being, “fearless.” Courage is shaking at the knees, choking on your words, heart gripped by uncertainty, but stepping forward on your journey anyway. (Unknown)

That quote right there says it all. Courage doesn’t arrive with grand gestures but in small steps. It means showing up for yourself even if you don’t feel like it. It means getting up in the mornings and saying, “I’m going to try again.” It means staring whatever is holding you back right in the face and daring to take that first small step forward. It means moving towards that mountain top not knowing what is waiting for you there but trusting that it will be better than where you’re at right now.

“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.” Napoleon Bonaparte

How often have you thrown up your hands and said, “I give up!” I’ve been there and so have you. However, it is those very moments that call for courage to step up and to put fear in its place. It is easy to run and hide, to not show up for yourself and to wear the mantle of defeat proudly. Moving on becomes heavy and each step forward, sometimes next to impossible. Courage needs practice like anything else in life. It doesn’t happen overnight and neither is it easy. Each time you face defeat as you inevitably will because life is about overcoming obstacles and nothing is going to be made easy and handed to you on a silver platter. The truth of the matter is, it takes work and sometimes hard work to achieve what you want. On your way, you will meet fear (my constant companion) and you will meet defeat. However, you are made of stronger stuff and you, my friend, are capable of showing up, time and time again until one day you are holding the letter “V” in your hands and giving whatever is holding you back a run for the money!

“COURAGE DOESN’T ALWAYS ROAR. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I will try again tomorrow.” Mary Anne Radmacher

Remember practice makes perfect and “courage” in small doses is what it is about. Make a list and start with the smallest thing on that list. Work your way up one step at a time putting fear where it belongs. Good luck on your journey.

Have an amazing day.

Changing the Ending of a Book

My answer is, I DON’T KNOW! I’ve read too many of them and changing the ending never crossed my mind. I took it for what it was, a sad love story, a tragedy, and or a writer’s warped mind weaving stories!

Besides it is too hot today and my mind is thinking of ICE and COLD WEATHER! I did have some ice but cold weather is wishful thinking as this heatwave is planning to stick around for a while and it is sticking on everything!

Yes, I’m in a bad mood. I’ve had two showers and changed clothes twice and I am still sweating!

Ok, let’s see. If I had to pick one, I would change the ending of “The Legends of the Fall.” Tristan is such a tragic character and he makes self-destructive choices all to his detriment and those that he chooses to love. All three brothers fall for the beautiful Susannah but her inability to be with Tristan drives her to a loveless marriage and later to deep despair and suicide.

I would try for a happy ending. How? I don’t know! Just too hot today to think out of the box. Back to downing lots of water, sipping on ice, and staying in my dark room!

Next question please…..

Daily writing prompt

If you could change the ending of any book, which one would it be?

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LOL!

Photo by Abdulwahab Alawadhi on Pexels.com

A sixteen year-old boy came home with a brand new Ford F150.

His parents looked at the truck and asked, “Where did you get that truck?!”

“I bought it today,” he says. “With what money?” says his mother. They knew what a new F150 cost.

“Well,” he says, “this one cost me just fifteen dollars.”

The father looks at him like he’s crazy. “Who would sell a truck like that for fifteen dollars?” he says.

“It was the lady up the street,” says the boy. “I don’t know her name – they just moved in. She saw me ride past on my bike and asked me if I wanted to buy her F150 for fifteen dollars.”

“Oh my Goodness!” says the mother. “Maybe she’s mentally ill or has Alzheimer’s or something John, you better go see what’s going on.”

So the boy’s father walks up the street to the house where the lady lives and finds her out in the yard calmly planting flowers. He introduces himself as the father of the boy to whom she had sold a new Ford F150 truck for fifteen dollars and asks to know why she did it.

“Well,” she says, “two days ago my husband left on a business trip. Yesterday I got a phone call from his boss and found out that he really ran off to Hawaii with his secretary and doesn’t intend to come back.”

“Oh, my goodness, I’m so sorry,” the father says. “But what does that have to do with my son and your truck?”

“Well, this morning he called and told me he was stranded because he got robbed of his wallet with all his credit cards and cash. He told me to sell his new F150 and send him the money. So I did.”

🤣🤣🤣

Multilingual

Having traveled the world not only opened up doors to learn about new cultures, taste delicious cuisines, but it also helped me to see the world in a different light. If I wanted to fit in especially when I had to spend a long time in a certain country, I had better learn to integrate and that included learning to speak the language well.

In Singapore, I learned Cantonese. It was easier to speak than Mandarin. According to one source, Mandarin is a tonal language, meaning the exact same syllable carries completely different meanings depending on your pitch. Hard enough? It was next to impossible. However, I had an easier time with Cantonese and I did pretty well with it. Then I learned Bahasa Melayu. This one was much easier and before too long I was speaking it like the locals! Bahasa Melayu is also the constitutional national language of Singapore.

Later I moved to Germany and I had to learn the language. I was living in a foreign land and had a son to boot. I couldn’t survive on English alone and that was made clear to me from the very beginning. I made up my mind to learn the language and to learn it well. I now speak it fluently.

Unlike Melania Trump who claims to speak several languages, the emphasis being on “claims,” I do speak several languages, more than just “Hello,” and “Goodbye!”

The impact on my life? Knowing the different languages made it easier to get along with the people, to integrate into the society, and to immerse myself in a new culture feet and all!

Daily writing prompt

Which languages do you speak and how did that impact your life?

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Signed in a Palace

I will say it again, THEY do it well!

I’m looking at Legos with different eyes!

The Best Advice

“Time and tide waits for no man.” This timeless proverb means that, “human events, natural forces, and the relentless passage of time cannot be stopped.” Stop waiting and get going is the message.

I was a dreamer, a long time ago. I had my head in the clouds and my thoughts in fairyland! However, I came out of it pretty quickly and made my way as I was supposed to do.

My best advice to someone younger than me would be to pay careful attention to that proverb. Time doesn’t stand still no matter what happens in your life. If you need to stop, do it but get moving as soon as you can. Time also flies and before you know it, you’ll be wondering where it went.

Lost time is just that. It is gone and you can’t get it back. Here is another proverb that speaks to the heart of the matter. Make hay while the sun shines. It is just another way of saying, do what you need to do. use time as it was meant to be used, and DON’T think you have forever. You don’t.

It is time to get moving!

Daily writing prompt

What’s the best advice you’d give to someone younger than you?

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We’re Having a Heatwave!

It’s here and it is driving everyone crazy! Everyone is talking about the weather and not in a nice way either!

We’re sweating it out and in a country that doesn’t believe in air-conditioners, it is next to impossible to survive. Lots of water, staying indoors, going out only when it is necessary and walking around naked is the way to it! Well, some of the people here do but I don’t. Too much of a stick-in-the-mud for that.

Anyway, I was out at 8:30 this morning. I wanted to beat the heat and to go get my grocery shopping done before the “heatwave” arrived but it beat me to it! People were grumbling about the heat and everyone had the same idea of getting out there early.

Shiro, the white Persian, was down in the dumps yesterday. I think it was the heat. She moped around and refused to eat or drink. I had the fan going most of the day and that seemed to help. This morning, she seemed to be alright again and was upstairs sunning herself! The room was as hot as a sauna but the “drama queen” was loving it. After half an hour, I brought her downstairs because I didn’t want to go through what I did yesterday. It was a tough evening caring for a sick cat.

Looks like the heatwave is going to stick around for a little while before it heads on out of here. I can’t wait to see it go! The trend seems to be a couple of excruciatingly hot weather days and then the thunderstorms move in for a day or two to cool everything off. A friend calls it the, “El Nino Effect.” “It is a natural climate phenomenon characterized by unusually warm ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific.” This massive shift causes a domino effect on global weather.

Whatever it is, I want to see it gone! I’m not a fan of hot weather and this is unbearable to say the least. Now, if we had air-conditioning that would be a different story altogether!

My Inspirational People

If you’ve been reading my posts, you will know the people who inspire me. The greats like, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Rumi and to a lesser extent, Mandy Hale, Brene Brown, Paul Coelho and too many more to list here.

However, I have also written about my dad who inspired me in ways that I rebelled against as a young girl but later learned what great lessons those were. One other person that I haven’t talked much about is my uncle. He was a man of God, and he was the reason why I spent a lot of my growing up years in the church and even staying there during the school holidays. It was spooky but that’s for another time.

Anyway Uncle Ed could give Ralph de Bricassart a run for the money. I remember the women swooning as he got up to give his sermon. The thing about Uncle Ed was that he was all about God and his ways were simple, just like the woman he married.. He married a Plain Jane. It was love they said but I couldn’t understand it. They remained married until he passed a few years ago.

I remember walking in one Sunday afternoon after a glorious day outside playing in the mud and covered in the same from head to toe. I walked in to find him sitting there with his eyes trained on me. I smiled showing the gap where my tooth was missing! I liked shocking people at the time. The look he gave me was painful and it seemed to say, “This one is trouble and she is not going to amount to much!” A week before the meeting, I had decided to ask dad the all important question in a belligerent way. I asked, “DO YOU THINK THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU CARRY A BIBLE AND GO TO CHURCH EVERY SUNDAY, YOU WILL GO TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE?!!” Let’s just say it didn’t go well and he didn’t believe in sparing the rod either! I think my uncle knew about my belligerence and hence the look.

However, I was mesmerized by him. The stories he told were captivating and sometimes shocking especially the ones about the exorcisms he had performed. Let me tell you, if you didn’t believe in the paranormal, you will after listening to those!

He started out as a pastor but worked his way up to the very top. It meant I had to behave like the niece of a well-respected person in the community. I was roped or rather forced into teaching Bible study. I DID! Then I moved away and didn’t see him again until my mom’s funeral. I didn’t know at the time of the service that she had been murdered, just that I felt incredible pain within. Sitting at the front of the hall with my ex, I stared at the casket and wondered why it was closed. Then the pain got too much and the room excruciatingly claustrophobic. I needed to escape but the only route I had was to look up at the cross on the wall. The huge one of Christ crucified on the cross. As I stared up at it, my back straightened and I felt power within. It said, “You can do this.” Then something else made me turn and there sitting a few rows behind me was my uncle and our eyes met. This time there was something else etched on his face. There was pain and sadness, but there was something more. It seemed to say, “Now, you understand.”

What came afterwards was all a blur. The finding out, the rage, the anger, but somehow that instance in church and our hearts touching gave me the courage to weather a storm of the deepest kind.

Uncle Ed was an unpretentious man but there was a power within him that I can’t explain. He walked with God and his life was dedicated to teaching others how to do exactly that. I looked up to him and admired how far he had come and how he stood with both feet planted firmly on the ground. He taught me humility, he taught me to have faith, and to stand tall when life cuts you down to size.

I wonder what he would say if he saw me now? Will there be a smile on his face, will he be proud of how far I’ve come and will he change his opinion of me!

I hope so.

Daily writing prompt

Who are you most inspired by?

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The Helicopter Has Crashed!

The definition of a helicopter mom is, “a mother who takes an overprotective or excessive interest in the life of her child or children.” Furthermore, “helicopter parents are so named because, like helicopters, they hover overhead, overseeing every aspect of their child’s life.” Guilty as charged!

My son, the one and only, has managed to do well. He has finished his studies and after landing two jobs but not to his liking, he has landed his dream job or so it seems. He is going into his third month and according to him, “Work is good.” That’s about as much as I can get out of him these days. Just short answers that don’t tell me a thing! I WANT MORE! Yes folks, the helicopter is going down fast and it is not going to be up there anytime soon and it probably never will again.

He’s on the way and keeping everything close to his chest. The problem is I am having a hard time with being fed just morsels! The first time it happened, I thought I would go crazy not knowing where he was, how he was doing, and especially when the trains stopped running and he was left to find his way home on his own! I had to learn to deal with that.

It got easier as time went on. The less he told me, the more I believed that he was alright and doing well. It was my way of surviving the inevitable. He was a young adult and he was ready to fly the coop and mom just had to deal with it. Then I wouldn’t hear from him for a few days and I would ask my ex if he had heard from him. “No, I haven’t heard from him for about a week now.” What?!! That set all the alarm bells going and needed looking into! When he was good and ready, he wrote me a few words, the emphasis being on few! “All good.”

I am writing this because he has a move coming up next weekend. He is moving to his new apartment and he will be able to have his cats with him. I thought it would take place the moment he moved in but I was told from a third source, the ex, that he has a two or three week business trip coming up and it can only happen after he comes back. Why didn’t he tell me?!! The helicopter is going down fast.

He just wrote a few minutes ago saying, “Packing.” I thought he was talking about the move coming up. Nope, he was talking about a trip coming up next week and he will be gone for a week. Where is he going? He doesn’t want to say and I have to step back and not push. The helicopter has CRASHED!!!

I see the same thing with a girlfriend. She has a ten-year-old and she does it one better than me. She is up there flying the skies and I wish I can go back to the times when I knew anything and everything like she does!

The thing is I have to accept that he is growing up fast and is leading a life of his own. So far, he has done well on his own and I will trust that I’ve brought him up well and he knows what he is doing.

By the way, that “helicopter” did a good job of raising the kid!

Have an amazing day.

Determination

“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”

This quote holds more than a modicum of truth, I think it is what success is all about. Giving up is easy and taking the road widely traveled is easier still. The thing is if you want to be successful in life, you not only have to decide what you want in life, set your goals, and move towards it with “determination” in tow.

I’ve had a successful life as far as my career goals. I didn’t get there simply by daydreaming, I had to work hard for it. Along the way, I wanted to give up because things got too hard but there was this determination within that powered the way and each goal I achieved, I give credit to determination.

“I believe success is achieved by ordinary people with extraordinary determination.” Zig Ziglar

My top tip for being successful in life is not to keep looking at someone who has succeeded but to do your own thing. If you want something badly enough, go for it, work towards that goal, and come out a winner. One other thing, it is never too late so let those excuses fly out the window and you do what you are fully capable of.

“People begin to become successful the minute they decide TO BE.”

Daily writing prompt

What’s your top tip to be successful in life?

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