I love this song by Bruno Mars. My friend, the one who passed away, was a good dancer. He had the “Moves like Jagger” moves! However, he danced better than Jagger and whenever this song came on, he took off dancing around the room like nobody was watching! I still see him in my mind’s eye. It has a catchy beat and nobody does it like Bruno Mars! It’s a song that never fails to put me in a good mood when I hear it.
What is it? It is the fear of being afraid. In other words, it is the fear of fear. Even though I’ve had a fear of developing fears or phobias, it never stopped them from finding me and me walking in like sheep to the slaughter! You name it, I’ve had them or have them!
The fear of a broken heart was one of my biggest fears and no matter how hard I tried, it always found me. The fear of the unknown was another. I always wanted to know the outcome before it happened and we know that life doesn’t work that way. It loves surprises and it gave me plenty of those! The fear of walking into a room full of strangers was another. However, I’ve overcome that fear. I do it like a pro now. How did I overcome that fear? I had to work on my self-esteem and every time someone gave me a compliment, I learned to accept it with grace instead of deflecting it as I usually do. Slowly, but surely I saw “me” with different eyes. I was fully capable of achieving anything if I put my mind to it and it worked!
The fear of creepy crawlies was another fear, of closed spaces yet another, and the fear of ghosts. It came from living in Asia and having experienced things that go bump in the night. Should I go on? I’ve got plenty more but I’ll stop right here. Enough don’t you think?
All I can say is that I’ve come a long ways from letting everything scare me. I’m at a place in my life where I live alone, take care of things on my own, and I’m learning to LOVE it, much more than I should. What about the fear? I’ve shown some fears the door and others are on their way out. Just a matter of time before that happens.
I used to be an introvert. It wasn’t that I was a wallflower, far from it but no matter how often I got told that I was more than enough something within just didn’t add up. It took a long time to come out of that shell.
How did I do it? I am now a self-assured and a very confident person. It took years to build that confidence up. Brick by brick? Not quite but at times it seemed that way. I had to learn this one lesson. I am ENOUGH as I am. Once that sunk in, I put into practice all the other pieces that were needed to get me on my way. Most of our insecurities arise from what people think of us. In other words, we let others dictate how we see ourselves.
If someone makes you feel smaller than you are, if they try to cut you down to size, and you accept their feedback or rather their negativity as the truth, then it is a downward spiral. Learn this. What they think of you is their business, not yours. There is a lot of negativity out there and if you let it, it will bring you down to their level. If you’re someone who is vulnerable and lacking self-confidence, it finds its mark and sinks you deeper.
I don’t let how someone perceives me to dictate how I live my life. The truth is, I feel 10 feet tall on the inside even if I’m a petite person on the outside. I don’t look for positive strokes from the outside, it is an inside job where I’m concerned. Holding my head up high when I walk into a room nowadays is easy to do compared to times past. If someone decides to take me down a notch, it never lands because I know I am ENOUGH as I am.
Self-confidence is an inside job. Work on you, build yourself up, walk with your head held high and soon you’ll be walking in a bubble of self-confidence! It takes practice, it takes a certain mindset, and it takes YOU! No one else is going to do it for you. Make up your mind and go for it! You’ve got nothing to lose.
This one got more than a chuckle out of me!
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs,
“I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car – NOW!”
The four men didn’t wait for a second threat. They got out and ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of the car and got into the driver’s seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then she realized why. It was for the same reason she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee, and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat.
A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into her own car and drove to the police station to report her mistake. The Sergeant to whom she told the story couldn’t stop laughing! He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a carjacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun.
No charges were filed.
Moral of the story? If you’re having a senior moment…make it memorable!
credit: Nadeem Alipur
This is the wrong question to ask me. I don’t spend a lot of time online like I used to and usually I post my articles and leave it at that. Building loyal subscribers probably takes lots of time and effort to get it going. These days my writing is not about getting subscribers but getting something out that speaks to the heart, helps someone out there, and helps me to vent my frustrations!
I have about 285 subscribers. How I got them I don’t know! However, I’m thankful for the people who have subscribed and think that what I put out there is worth reading. Thank you.
As to your question, I think to build loyal subscribers you’ve got to spend loads of time online, searching for new people, liking their posts, and HOPING that they like yours and subscribe!
I haven’t written much lately because I’ve been up to my neck with the three that take up my time and my energy!
Shiro, Galli, and Chachi are a handful. They run the roost and although Chachi, my guy, started out as the boss, he has turned it over to the other two. He is happy spending his days under the stairwell and sleeping his day away. Shiro, the white Persian is the ma’am and she dictates how everything goes. Galli, the long-haired British cat, is the observer and the thinker.
Together, they are a team. A brother and sister twosome. They look out for each other, they are very close and it shows. Unfortunately, this doesn’t set too well with Chachi, the little macho. Shiro has shown Chachi who wears the pants around here and even though he hates it, he has given up and keeps out of her way. She, Shiro, spends most of her time in my bedroom pretending to be asleep but in actuality she is watching everything I do! She loves it when I spray some scent on her. She is a GIRL and there is no mistaking it. Galli is the food guy. He waits around and whenever I head to the kitchen, he is right behind me with the Oliver Twist line, “Please, sir, I want some more.” It was driven by unbearable hunger but in Galli’s case, it doesn’t matter if he is hungry or not, he just wants food!
Lately, I’ve been observing the two and it is amazing how they interact with each other. Every time Shiro meows, Galli comes running to see what is going on. He is her knight in shining armor. This morning, she wasn’t feeling too well so when she finally got up and went to get some food, Galli came walking up to her and gave her a small kiss on her cheek and she returned it. I wanted to gather the little guy in my arms and to smother him with kisses! He is a sweetheart.
They will be gone in a month’s time and I must say, I will miss them. I won’t miss the work and the early morning meowing but I will miss having them around. I bet Chachi will too.
I am learning that I LOVE cats! They are beautiful creatures and there is much you can learn from them if you open your mind to them.
This is a proverb that rubs me up the wrong way for all the right reasons! I don’t know when I first heard this saying but it stuck with me. It had a nice ring to it and to a young mind at that time, it seemed to hold some truth to it. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. On the surface level, that assumption is correct. Dive deeper and you will see how it is SO wrong on many levels!
It is a well-known English proverb and it is a often debated proverb today. It appeared somewhere in the mid-19th century and was used as a defense mechanism against name-calling and bullying. All good right? Like I said, on the surface a good thing but look deeper and it brings forth the fact that whoever coined this proverb was either living in a world of privilege or didn’t know what they were talking about!
Call it free speech, call it political debate, call it whatever! Words do have the potential to hurt and sometimes more than sticks and stones. They wound deeply and to someone who is vulnerable, it can take a lifetime to overcome and sometimes never because those seemingly powerless words can cut you down to size, make you feel inadequate, and make you feel like you are NOT ENOUGH as you are.
Hate speech does that very well. It is spewed like a volcanic eruption against someone and at times an innocent child simply because of what they look like or their belief in a certain religion. Yes, it does damage and often irreversible damage.
Use your words carefully because it has the potential to hurt without a weapon in sight! Words are powerful tools and it can either built someone up or tear someone down depending on how you wield it. Perhaps, this proverb started out as a defense mechanism to help those who are objects of bullying or insults but the truth of the matter is that throwing out that proverb whenever someone is faced with “words” of the hateful nature is far from enough to soothe the hurt that a child feels being called a certain name, an adult who is made to feel different in society, and people who are grouped together and are given hateful names. The thing is, the “haters” have found a weapon that works really well for them and that “words” can do the trick just as well as sticks or stones!
The truth is physical wounds may heal in time but words, hurtful ones at that can have a long-lasting impact, mess with your self-image causing emotional scars that may never heal and affect your mental well-being as well.
This proverb although meant well is so wrong on many levels and I rest my case.
A soulmate is “a person with whom you share a profound, almost unexplainable connection.” That said, I think the term “soulmate” has taken on a life of its own for some people. What started out as a connection that has no explanation except maybe that this person was the “ONE” or there was something more that needed to be explored turned out to be a desecration of the term soulmate for some.
I knew someone who told me that his second wife was his soulmate. The problem was that the woman was married at the time he met her and so was he. The question arises, can someone else’s person be your soulmate? Or is that another term for infidelity all wrapped up to make it look like something else? Soulmate?
Another guy had five soulmates! Every time he broke up with one “soulmate” another one came along. What is that? Soulmates are a dime a dozen?
I used to believe in soulmates and that there is this special someone out there made just for you. They tick all the right boxes and somehow seem to fit you to a perfect T. However, I’ve had to let that notion go because I’m still looking! The ones who have been showing up are the cubic zirconia version of a soulmate! They sparkle like the real thing but after a few rubs, the sparkle wears off and there you have it. A fake diamond exactly as it should be. Nice to look at, spend time with for a little while, and then time to throw it away!
The answer to your question. No, I don’t believe in soulmates. I still do believe that there is someone special out there for each and everyone but some arrive quickly and others, like in my case might take a lifetime to show up or not at all!
A man was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching his wife, who was looking at herself in the mirror. Since her birthday was not far off he asked what she’d like to have for her birthday.
‘I’d like to be eight again’, she replied.
On the morning of her Birthday, he arose early, made her a nice big
bowl of Coco Pops, and then took her to Adventure World theme park.
What a day! He put her on every ride in the park; the Death Slide, the
Wall of Fear, the Screaming Roller Coaster, everything there was.
Five hours later they staggered out of the theme park. Her head was reeling and her stomach felt upside down.
He then took her to a McDonald’s where he ordered her a Happy Meal with extra
fries and a chocolate shake.
Then it was off to a movie,popcorn, a soda pop, and her favorite candy,
M&M’s. What a fabulous adventure!
Finally she wobbled home with her husband and collapsed into bed exhausted and feeling sick.
He leaned over his wife with a big smile and lovingly asked, ‘Well Dear, what was it like being eight again?
Her eyes slowly opened and her expression suddenly changed.
‘I meant my dress size, you f@*#* moron!!
The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.
I’d add, good husband but pleasing a woman is a next to impossible thing including that dress size!
I hated getting on a plane and spending hours there before getting to my destination and then I hated the jet lag that followed afterwards. I don’t travel much anymore but if there is one thing I would like to see invented that would make traveling easier would be a machine or a room that you can step into, press a button and lo and behold, you’re there within minutes!
Add no jet lag to it and I would be willing to travel again! I don’t think it will happen in my lifetime and if it ever will but those geniuses out there, here’s an idea for you. Make it inexpensive and you might just have a winning invention on your hands.
Elon are you listening?
