letsgetitoutfront

The Journey

I think that the hardest personal goal I’ve set for myself is to decide that I want “better” and to do something about it. I call it “the journey.”

It has been a hard one and progress has been slow and at times it seems like I’m standing still at one spot and not moving at all. At other times, I think I keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Out of the corner of my eye, I see some improvement but it’s not enough. Yes, that is impatience showing up and thumping its nose at me! Honestly, there has been improvements.

I’m at a point where I can say “no” to things I don’t want. I move when I see something unsavory reaching out for me and I no longer let sympathy take over and say, “Give the poor guy a chance.” I used to and that was a big mistake right there. These days, I walk and don’t look back.

This journey has been hard but I won’t give up until I make it to the other side of here. I’ll know when I get there. The thing is to get back on trek after taking a break and to keep on moving. This one is going to test my patience, my peace of mind, my strength and most of all my resilience. It is ongoing so let’s see what happens.

Daily writing prompt

What was the hardest personal goal you’ve set for yourself?

View all responses

This is Scary! (Update)

Three sleepless nights later and he is back at it again! Today I received a message that started out with, “Fear is….” I didn’t bother to go in and look at the rest. Chachi, the cat is still afraid to go to the kitchen area. I’m not sure why. It’s as if he senses something and is afraid. A friend, a German, told me that it is the same here as it is stateside, the police won’t do anything until something happens! I hope this guy, whoever he is, gives up and leaves me alone!

It started two days ago. A message popped up on my phone and I listened to it. It was a guy reciting a love letter. I didn’t pay it mind as I thought he had sent the message to the wrong person. On the same day, I got several other messages all in the same vein.

It was time to get a little nervous. There was no name but there was a pic, darkened and I couldn’t make out his features. The day after, I got a few more messages all talking about love. Now, all kinds of “stuff” started showing up in my head. I had been a victim of a stalker many years ago and that guy kept me captive psychologically and the after-effects are still felt today in the way I react to the world around me. The thing is, I am across the pond so it couldn’t be the same guy.

Anyway, yesterday I received a message in the morning that said, “Hi Tia, LOVE OF MY LIFE!” I froze. Who is this person? So I answered, “What?!!! Who are you?” No answer. Then silence. Later in the day, I got this, “This is goodbye, this is the last message.” It had a broken heart emoji attached to it.

Wow! He got my attention and how! I double-locked the doors, made sure all the shatters were down and everything was in a shutdown mode! Then I locked the bedroom door and placed something behind it. As you can imagine, I didn’t sleep well at all and every little noise had me jumping. To make matters worse, Chachi, the cat, came down this morning and refused to go into the kitchen. He kept sniffing at a corner. I looked around but there was nothing that looked different. Nothing from the guy until a few minutes ago. It said, “Hi Tia, cheating is hurtful and only people of low intelligence do that.”

I agreed with him but then it dawned on me that the message was aimed at me! What is he going on about?!! I looked outside my front door but there was nothing. I did a walk around the house outside and no signs of any tampering.

However, this is scary stuff. What am I going to do about it? I really don’t know. I’ll have to see how this progresses but tonight I will do the same. Make sure everything is locked down and have the phone close to me just in case!

One other thing, the messages were all in German!

My Favorite Artists?

I have so many of them, however, I will go with the ones I listen to the most right now.

Kathy Melua

I love her brand of music, it is soft and easy to listen to. Her voice is one of a kind and I often listen to her when I’m relaxing. Here are some of my favorites.

The Closest Thing to Crazy

Nine Million Bicycles

Wonderful Life

Country Music

Luke Combs (Crazy Beautiful)

Darius Rucker (If I Told You)

Thomas Rhett (Angels Don’t Always Have Wings)

Coldplay

Fix You

Something Just Like This

I can come up with so many more but these are my favorite artists and I listen to them all the time. Oops, I forgot one more.

Teddy Swims

I like his voice a lot and his albums are great to listen to as well.

There you have it. My favorite picks.

Moving on…..

Daily writing prompt

Who are your favorite artists?

View all responses

Book Trailer (3)

I find that this book trailer is a lot better than the last one. The review below says that the book, “generally receives positive reviews,” so that is alright I guess. How is the book really doing? I don’t have a clue! Whoever is doing the reviews, thank you and keep it coming!

“The Excellent Adventures of Honey and Hubie,” generally receives positive reviews, with customers highlighting its teaching of friendship and the capture of young imaginations through a magical world. The book is described as a “wild ride into a magical world of colorful characters” that is especially appealing to young readers.

LOL! (Archives)

It has been said that laughter is good for you. According to the MayoClinic people, it can: “Stimulate many organs. Laughter enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain. Activate and relieve your stress response.”

That said, it lifts up your face, puts a happy smile on your whole being and on days like today when nothing much is happening and it is cloudy and windy outside, it helps to bump up your mood.

Here are some quotes to get you laughing and put a smile on your face as it did on mine.

“The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.” Woman’s Day

*************************************************************

“My life feels like a test I didn’t study for.” Unknown

By the way I feel like that all the time!

*************************************************************

“Life is not a fairytale, if you lose your shoe at midnight, YOU’RE DRUNK.” Unknown

Probably from some poor girl who didn’t get her guy!

*************************************************************

“Sometimes you lie in bed at night and you don’t have a single thing to worry about. That always worries me!: Charlie Brown

Yup that’s me right there!

*************************************************************

Dear life, when I said, “can my day get any worse It was a rhetorical question not a challenge.” Unknown

*************************************************************

“The brain is the most outstanding organ. It works 24/7, 365 from birth until you fall in love.” Sophie Monroe

*************************************************************

“I am yours, no refunds.” Unknown

This one is scary! You mean I can’t return you and get a better model?!!

*************************************************************

“Love is a lot like gas, if you have to force it, it’s probably sh**!” Stephen K. Amos

And with that, have a great day.

Watching Clouds Go By

This is one of my favorite pastimes. It is my way to relax and to entertain myself.

I’ve always loved watching clouds go by and as a young girl I used to watch them for hours on end. Sometimes with friends and often alone. The game was to make out what they looked like. I mostly saw angels while my friends came up with some doozies!

I think that the young girl is still within me. Some days I can sit outside for hours on end and just watch as I see the angels floating by! During my walks, I do the same thing. Of course, the fields are a perfect place to cloud watch!

It is relaxing, soothing, calming and a great way to reel back an overactive mind and to give it some breathing space!

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite hobby or pastime?

View all responses

This is Scary!

One other thing, the messages were all in German!

Fall’s Gloomy Face

It marches in with wet boots, ruffled hair and a “I don’t care attitude!” Time to blow the leaves off the trees, turn whatever remains into a palette of breathtaking colors and to brush everything with a golden light when the rain leaves and takes a break.

Saturday was that kind of day. Wet, windy, gloomy and miserable and yet there was a certain kind of magic in the air. A heralding of things to come. One of beauty in a subdued manner.

MG Mason in his piece, “Writing the Seasons: Autumn” describes it beautifully as he captures the essence of fall through his words.

“It is getting colder and darker; leaves are falling from the trees. There is a chill in the air overnight, frost on the ground in the morning, mist and fog in the air. Dry, dead leaves crunch beneath your feet and clouds appear when you breathe out. There is still a lingering warmth but always a constant reminder of the cold to come.”

Fall has its moments as it prepares to make a showing but it is all part and parcel of the season. There has to be moments of unrest as it prepares to show its clout when it finally arrives and makes a show-stopping display. I, for one, can’t wait to see its full beauty as it steps out wearing its dress of many colors.

The rain has stopped but there is a definite chill in the air. The wind is picking up speed as the trees sway back and forth creating music of their own. In a way, there is a little sadness as summer waves goodbye and moves on to make way for another season to step in. It is only a matter of time before we welcome the beauty of fall, glorious fall, with colors that will take your breath away.

It is one of my favorite seasons.

Have an amazing Sunday.

Mistakes (Archives)

“You can pickup a mistake and carry it as a burden, or you can set it down and use it as a stepping stone to greatness.” Unknown

It has been said that a mistake is usually “an action, decision, or judgement that produces an unwanted or unintentional results.” Quite often than not, the unintentional results can be painful, it makes us doubt ourselves and our judgement of others. It also means that the outcome did not meet our expectations. Therefore, it was time wasted or more appropriately it was an investment that did not put forth what it was meant to do.

There are different kinds of mistakes. It can be related to cheating on a partner, allowing people to push you around, dating or marrying the wrong person, refusing to listen to good advice or quite simply a frivolous disregard to what is staring you in the face. It’s there as plain as day, it is clear that it’s a mistake to carry on and yet because of the time and energy spent in chasing that dream, whatever it maybe for you, we refuse to call it quits and move on. We refuse to accept it as a lesson learned or as a stepping stone to something better.

“A mistake that keeps being repeated is not a mistake, it’s a choice.” Unknown

Just like it is in Groundhog’s Day, we see a “series of unwelcome or tedious events appear to be recurring in exactly the same way,” and this is not only boring and irritating but it’s time to get off that emotional roller coaster and head for greener pastures. The choices we make are hard at times. I know that quite often I am stuck on redial. I know that I should hang up and start anew but the human side or rather the foolish side wants to hang on for just a while longer knowing full well that I should count it as a lost cause, sunken cost as they say in business, take the lesson learned with me and make the decision to not do it ever again. Sunk costs basically means “that costs have been incurred by past actions and they cannot be recovered and they are not relevant to our future decisions,” and yet we choose to repeat it over and over again. I am human, I say, but that is putting it mildly!

Perhaps, it would be easier if we can forget the mistakes but remember the lessons we’ve learned from our walks into the big wide world of MISTAKES LAND and believe me it is a jungle out there. We’ve all made them, we’ll continue to make them and more likely than not we’ll rush in with our eyes wide open BUT it is the picking up, dusting off and the moving on bit that matters here. Here’s to mistakes both big and small. Bring them on!

“When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.” Paul Bear Bryant

From your lips to God’s ears!

Have an amazing Sunday.

Possessions

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

If I lost all my possessions, I would be sad which is a normal reaction. Possessions are things or stuff that we accumulate in our day to day existence. It builds up over time and it has memories and importance attached to them.

Losing my possessions would make me feel like I’m lost but if I step back and look at it from a distance instead of smack dap in the middle of it, they are just “things” after all. Sure, it will be a painful experience and some things cannot be replaced but it wouldn’t mean the end of the world. Just like with anything else, it means accepting the loss, rebuilding again and moving on.

Not easy to do and I hope it never happens, but if it does life still goes on and that is the truth of the matter.

Daily writing prompt

What would you do if you lost all your possessions?

View all responses