Oh God!! Another one of those questions I think goes deeper than I want to answer. First of all I never paid much attention to my middle name, it is stuck between my first and last name and that’s about it.
It’s there, it has been there and will continue to be, that’s the significance. Do I like it? I couldn’t give a flying flip about it. I never liked my first name but I didn’t have a choice in the matter, it was left up to two people who at the time looked at me with love and decided, we’ll call her TIA! The middle name was of lesser significance so they came up with something imaginative according to them.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. I’m not looking at both with a magnifying glass. I’m happy with both my names, one to a lesser extent than the other, but if I had a chance I would like to have a name that grabs attention. What? I don’t know. Maybe Christine. My sister is called Christine and I used to envy that. Oh well, it’s done and I’m stuck with it.
Daily writing prompt
What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?
“Being a mother is learning about strengths you didn’t know you had, and dealing with fears you didn’t know existed.” Nishan Panwar
My son asked me recently, “Mom why do you still worry about me? I’ve been on my own for some time now.”
It’s true. He moved away to finish his studies and has been on his own and managing whatever he needed to do single-handedly.
My answer to that question: “I’ll always worry about you no matter how old you get.”
He is now on the cusp of starting another chapter in his life. Studies are over and his first job is waiting on the horizon. It means moving to wherever the job is and starting out with no safety net beneath him. It also means learning to fly on his own and to take care of whatever comes his way. I know he is fully capable of doing the unknown. He showed us recently just how capable he is. There were days of uncertainty and not knowing which way to go. How to get started when “no job experience” was staring him in the face. Most of all he was afraid of taking that all important step of cutting ties with two people who had always been there for him. Just like the baby bird learning to fly he had to move slowly but move he must. There was no other way.
He got rejections that is part and parcel of the process. Shaking it off like water off a duck’s back wasn’t easy but he did it. Suddenly he got his first job interview. It was nerve-wracking but he handled it well. The job was his if he wanted it! However, it wasn’t what he wanted although it paid well. His reply, “I’m not that type,” meaning the job demanded more than what he was willing to put in. He knew himself well. It was off to another job interview. He made it through with flying colors and was offered a two day trial period. He slayed the dragon! The second and final interview was yesterday. He went there like a lamb to the slaughter only to find that he had landed the job! He has his first job in the bag. Looming on the horizon is another job interview, this one could be the “forever” job. The interview date is set and he will show up for it. It will take him further away and I told myself I couldn’t handle the distance but I know and he knows that we’ve handled much more than distance in our lives. We will somehow handle this too.
The little boy whose hands I held as a young child is getting ready to take life by the horns and he is getting ready to go it alone. Part of me can’t believe this is happening and the other part is learning to let him go, to let him fly, to go where he needs to and to live life to the fullest. I am so proud of him although I still see him as the little boy he was, not this grown-up young man as he is now. I will still be the wind beneath his wings and I will cheer him on from the sidelines as I have done all these years. He knows I am his ally and his staunchest supporter and that will never change but my voice will be quieter now as he learns to listen to his own.
Just one little bit of advice. I’ll pass it on to you as my mom did a long time ago when I was getting ready to fly. She said, “If you fall down, stand back up, dust yourself off and keep on moving.” Words of wisdom that has stood the test of time in my life. Always remember failure is not an option. You are built to succeed and you will, come hell or high water. One more thing, YOU CAN DO THIS!
This is a hard one and “my mind” says don’t look in my direction! I can understand that reaction perfectly well. I blame it for a lot of things including my unrest, my anxiety and my inability to move forward at times.
I have a mind that moves faster than I can keep up with. It is off and running to the next debacle sort of like Trump does! It has taken years to tame this “monkey” but I am still not there yet. I am learning to reel it in and it is possible with meditation and my walks in nature. It takes a break from the constant incessant chatting and sits back for a change or goes to sleep when I am in my Zen Zone. I have peace and I feel my senses deflate but NOT for long!
The hardest time to make it heel is right before sleep. Right before bedtime is when it is the chattiest and there is no rhyme or reason as it moves from one topic to the next. Believe me I have tried many methods to calm this unruly beast but I am finding out that laughter helps. Watching something funny or something senseless helps. It seems to love Reality TV. Go figure. Taming my mind is still a learning process and failure is not an option here, I know that I will get it to comply, it is just a matter of time.
My idea of paradise is open spaces, blue skies, mountains, forests and streams running through the whole shebang! It is beautiful, calming and at the same time mesmerizing.
Today is no different except spring is in the air and there is sunshine everywhere. It’s a great day for a walk and to let the imagination run wild. There is a herd of deer standing still at the top of the hill enjoying the warmth as I’m doing. I watch them and they watch me in return. A shrill squawk attracts my attention and looking skywards, I see a heron in flight. It is majestic as it glides effortlessly through time and space. Two more herons join the symphony in motion and the dance is graceful as they dip and take off again, weightless against an azure blue sky.
A movement down below attracts my attention and two rabbits take off into the bushes and disappear from sight. There is a different energy out here today. Nature is breathing life back into the fields and everything is waking up after a long winter’s sleep, energized and ready to go. The air is crisp but still a little cold. It is exhilariting.
The only problem, there are more people out and about and where once I was the only one paying homage to paradise, it is no longer mine alone. It too is a sign that spring is marching in and staying indoors is for the birds when you have “paradise” just a stone’s throw away!
Couldn’t have said it better myself. Time to put those items into practice. The hardest will be the last one. I do overanalyze everything to the point that I start out with something small and by the time I finish with it, it has been blown to gigantic proportions.
I would say it is, “How old are you?” Coming from a stranger it is intrusive and from someone I know, it just doesn’t feel right for some reason. If I wanted you to know, I would tell you is my answer.
Age has never been an issue but the constant retort coming back is. “You look so young!” I do agree that I look much younger than my age. Always have and still do but it is nobody’s business but my own. Now if the question comes from an official source, that is a different matter altogether.
Does age really matter? In some cases yes and in some NOT. I feel that a huge age gap in a relationship doesn’t always work. There is a difference with how a younger person vs. an older person deals with certain issues. Perhaps just the ability to communicate is a problem altogether. I just ended a so-called relationship with (the cheesecake guy) someone much older. He was older than Trump and loaded as well. The thing is money may speak in some instances but there was just too much of a difference between the two of us. He wanted a much younger woman on his arm and I decided to wait for someone around my age. A good decision? I think so. However, asking someone their age is rude and if it is not offered voluntarily, DO NOT ASK! I think women like to deflect from the “AGE” question. The older you get, the more it becomes an issue.
So if someone asks me, “How old are you?” My usual response is, “Take a guess!”
Daily writing prompt
What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.
Yesterday started out normal enough. I woke up early and it was still dark outside. The rooftops were glistening white so it much have been a cold night. Nothing unusual because the day warms up as it goes along. Just an inkling of things to come. Spring is on the way but it is taking its time.
My morning was going to be full with errands to run and one important appointment to take care off. It was definitely going to be hectic but I had my afternoon free and the “fields” were waiting for my visit. It will be a beautiful day to go walking and to see what it had in store for me.
After breakfast and a shower later, I had to pick an outfit to wear. The errands are easy enough to do in jeans or in sweats but not for the important meeting. Dressed nicely for a change, I pulled my long hair into a chignon and held it in place with a clip and I was ready to go.
The sun was making a showing by now and a promise of a beautiful day was right in front of me. Feeling happy for a change I headed into town. I got the errands done in record time and then it was time to make it to his office. The secretary got up to show me to his office but he walked into the reception area, greeted me with a smile and led me to the inner sanctum. It was what he said next that threw me for a loop!
HIM: “I swear I’ve seen you before.”
ME: “Where?”
HIM: “I don’t know but I’ve seen you,” with a puzzled look on his face.
I decided to be flippant.
ME: I’m sure you saw me with my hair down?”
HIM: Maybe, but I’ve seen you before.”
The meeting started and five minutes in, he said again:
HIM: “I don’t know why but I feel like I know you. We know each other.”
Wow! I know I’ve never met him before. Was this a pick-up line of the weird kind? I’ve had weird before. I met this guy at the university way back when and during our first meeting he said, “We were husband and wife in a past life!” So this here was tame compared to the past life variety. Anyway, after the meeting I stood up and he came around the table, took my hand in his and said:
“It was nice meeting you but I swear I know you.”
His hand felt warmer than usual or was that just my imagination?!!
It was strange to say the least and I walked out of there wondering what just took place. Was destiny working its magic again or was it something else altogether. I will be bringing him some papers on Thursday and we’ll see how it goes. What’s that saying? Life happens when you’re not looking.
An ordinary day turned into a not so ordinary one.
Failure has many facets but when it happens as it inevitably does, it is not seen as the stepping stone to success at a later point in time. In my case, I see it as the unwanted monster that has come to throw hot water or as a form of destruction on my path to success.
Rarely do I accept it for what it is, just a hiccup in the grand scheme of things. It too is part and parcel of our daily existence and a learning curve that needs to be mastered. There has been many instances where I met “failure” in one form or another and I crumbled at first. However, it did set me up for future successes.
I told my son yesterday that if he doesn’t get the job, it is not the end of the world. He is learning to fly on his own and landing the job of his dreams or just a job is at the center of his world right now. The guy is doing fine but learning to accept failure or rather that rejections are part of the job seeking process is another thing altogether for someone who is just venturing out into the job market. I know he will master that process as well as he has done with all the other things that has come his way and will come his way in the future.
Failure as I see it these days, after having fallen flat on my face many times over, is not the monster it seems to be. It has taught me to be resilient, to find other ways of achieving what I want to do and it has made me stronger in a lot of ways. Most of all, I no longer fall on my knees when it visits. I take a step back, look at the options and move on from there. Easier said than done I know.
Daily writing prompt
How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?
He’s at it again. I think the time he spends sitting on his golden throne in the early morning hours is definitely affecting his thinking process not to mention his policy making decisions.
The stock market has taken a dive, he has halted aid to Ukraine and as if that wasn’t enough he has started the dumbest trade war. The allies are in an uproar because the Narcissist-in-Chief is acting like a schoolyard bully throwing punches left and right. Perhaps he is mad because talks with President Zelensky didn’t go as expected. Narcissists are used to having things their way and when the “bullying” didn’t produce the effects they expected, Zelensky was sent packing. However, instead of being praised for what they did, the backlash was heavy-handed and not to his liking.
If that wasn’t enough to stop him in his tracks, the “bully” is back and he is kicking up his heels. He has put new 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada and they are not taking it sitting down. Both countries are vowing to retaliate in a way that will hurt and hit hard at the same time.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Ottawa would respond with 25% tariffs on (20,7 billion) worth of U.S. imports. Ontario Premier Doug Ford told NBC that “they are ready to cut off shipments of nickel and transmission of electricity from his province to the U.S.” Claudia Sheinbaum will announce her response later today as far as Mexico is concerned and China will impose an additional tariff of 10% – 15% starting March 10 and new export restrictions for designated U.S. entities as well. Tit for Tat and it is only going to get worse.
“Today’s reckless decision by the U.S. administration is forcing Canada and U.S. toward recessions, job losses and economic disaster,” according to Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO Candace Laing.
The spin cycle is set at a blistering pace but the convicted felon who has 34 felony convictions to his name and who is now the current president is marching on impervious to the havoc and destruction he has caused and is causing in his wake. He’s off and running to his next debacle which will take place sooner than later, of this I am sure. Just a matter of time.