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Personal Belongings I Hold Dear

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First and foremost is a picture of my young son when he was about three years old. He was a cute kid and I was totally hooked on him. I was a first time mom and my world revolved around him. The little guy was cheeky even at that young age.

One day he had just had his bath and was standing on the table naked waiting to be dressed when I got this great idea. I decided to take a picture of him in his birthday suit. He gave me this look and a smile erupted on his face. I grabbed my cell phone and snapped the pic! He giggled and just as I finished, I felt the spray hit my face! When it did, he chuckled and started jumping on the table. It became a game after that with him. Every time I tried to dress him and when I saw that grin come on his face, I knew what was coming and I learned to duck in time! That pic has a special place in my heart because it was one of those times when life was simple and it was all about giggles and chuckles.

The other thing I hold close and still wear around my neck is a heart-shaped diamond pendant. It’s a beautiful piece and it belonged to my mom. I remember her wearing it all the time and it was her special piece of jewelry. I loved it when the sun hit the stones and made them glisten and shine. I inherited it when she met her untimely death. My brother decided that it was one of the pieces I should have. It is a daily companion along with a diamond solitaire pendant that was given to me by the friend I lost a couple of years ago. Both bring back precious memories. They are both gone now but those two pieces of jewelry bring back a time when I felt special and knew that I was loved.

What may seem like trinkets to some may mean a whole different story to someone else.

Daily writing prompt

What personal belongings do you hold most dear?

View all responses

JUST AS I AM

“My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can’t be loved as I am.” Anais Nin

MISSION ACCEPTED!

Right now, I’m choosing….

to believe that everything is working out in my favor

to focus on what I can control

to release what does not align with my vision of the future

to spend time with the people that make me feel safe

to meet my own needs

to take steps outside of my comfort zone

to find the good in every moment

to honor my boundaries

to stay in my own lane

to reflect on my life choices and choose better ones.

to stay consistent with the goals I set for myself

to be accepting of change

to prioritize my peace and happiness

to release unhealthy attachments

to enjoy the journey of life

to love myself exactly as I am

Unknown

That folks is exactly how you do it! Now, I have to convince this other me to get in sync and get with the program!

Have an amazing day.

WHAT NOW?!!

“What now is not just a panic-striken question tossed into a dark unknown. What now can also be our joy. It is a declaration of possibility of promise, of chance. It acknowledges that our future is open, that we may well do more than anyone expected of us, that at every point in our development we are still striving to grow.” Ann Patchett

However, I am at a point where I feel like I’m stuck in mud or more appropriately moving through thick gooey mud and each excruciating step forward is a struggle in itself. The cowardly me wants to throw up her hands and to stop, take a breath and spend the days sitting in the garden with only the birds, bees and the insects for company. I am SAFE.

That’s the conundrum right there. It is not about feeling safe. It is about finding that right guy and making the right decisions for my life. It takes work to get to the end goal and I know that the right person is not just going to fall into my lap like manna from heaven. It takes working on me, knowing what I want, what I won’t tolerate and when to say NO to those who are just a waste of time and a drain on my emotional resources. So far so good. Then the doubts started creeping in and along came the fears, the uncertainties but most of all not knowing where to go next has been bugging me for the last week or so. I’m where Alice was when she had that conversation with the Cheshire Cat. It goes like this:

Alice: “Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?”

Cheshire Cat: “That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.”

Alice: “I don’t much care where.”

Cheshire Cat: “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go.”

Alice: “So long as I get somewhere.”

Cheshire Cat: “Oh, you’re sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”

I don’t want to keep moving forward if “somewhere” is going to be good enough. It isn’t and neither is aimless wandering. I have a specific goal in mind. Perhaps, this wading through mud is normal in the grand scheme of things and not everything is going to go as smoothly as I want it to go. When has it ever? So why not stop and take that well-deserved break? I’ve been working hard on discarding the “old me” and I see someone new emerging from the shadows. She is stronger, more decisive and she knows what she wants. There is still work to be done but I have a feeling it will all fall in place when the time is right. The end goal is to get to the other side of the here and now. What would be waiting there? I don’t know but unlike Alice in Wonderland, this much I know. I care about where I’m headed.

“Sometimes not having any idea where we’re going works out better than we could possibly have imagined.” Unknown

Fingers and toes crossed!

Have an amazing day.

Collections?

I don’t know if I should answer this question!

I used to have a shoe tick but that is wearing off as I can’t wear most of them here. Heels and cobblestones don’t go together. Decluttering helped get rid of several pairs of shoes but with a heavy heart.

I do have one collection that is gathering dust simply because my constant companion now is a hiking rucksack! I am talking about my bag collection and I have one in almost every color and designer. You name it and I have it. Why?

Clothes , shoes, bags and jewelry used to mean a lot during my working days. My current laid-back style of living doesn’t require the same meticulous way of dressing to the nines. I have been recouping and parting ways with a lot of my collections but those bags are something else altogether. They are lined up on top of cupboards, in cupboards and in the cellar. Get the picture?

Some I bought myself but most are gifts from a close friend who thought the way to my heart was to buy me an expensive bag each time a special occasion rolled by. It didn’t quite work but my bag collection started growing and I won’t say how many I have but it is a huge collection. All brand spanking new too! One day I will gather up my no nonsense attitude and sell them or part ways with them but for now they are gathering dust and grinning at me just like that cheesecake does!

My Legacy

When my son and friends think back about me, I want them to say she was a good person with a good heart and she used her time here on earth as a vessel for spreading good.

A friend told me a week ago that I am the least egotistical person he knows. It was in reply to my telling him that someone had called me “egotistical.” I think I am kind, compassionate, gentle, loving and trustworthy. Add to that a person who is always working for the good of others and you’ve got my spirit down pat. I think the quote below says it all.

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” Unknown

When my time on earth is done, I want my legacy to say, “She was a good person.”

LOL!

A doctor started having an affair with his nurse. Shortly after this started, she announced that she had become pregnant. Not wanting his wife to find out, he gave her a large amount of money and asked her to go out of the country to Germany to wait out the pregnancy and have the baby over there.

“But how will you know when our baby is born?” she asked.

“Well,” he said, “after you’ve had the baby, just send me a postcard and write ‘sauerkraut’ on the back.”

Not knowing what else to do, she took the money and went off to Germany. Six months went by and then one day the doctor’s wife called him at his office.

“Dear, you received a very strange postcard in the mail today,” she explained. “I don’t understand what it means!”

“Just wait until I get home and I’ll read it,” he replied. Later that evening, the doctor came home and read his postcard, which said:

“Sauerkraut, Sauerkraut, Sauerkraut. Two with wieners. One without!”

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Relationship Arithmetic:

Smart man + smart woman = romance.

Smart man + dumb woman = affair.

Dumb man + smart woman = marriage.

Dumb man + dumb woman = pregnancy.

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Guess I should go back to writing something productive?

Cold Weather Blues

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I’m just kidding. I love cold weather! Strange? Not really. I’ve lived in the tropics and I used to enjoy running wild along the beach or in the jungles as a young girl and it was fantastic at that point in my life, but as I grew older and moved to Europe, my mindset changed. I wouldn’t say for the better but something shifted and I became a fan of cold weather.

Most people love summer but in Europe where air-conditioning is seen as a sin or rather as not being environmentally-friendly, people sweat it out for all the wrong reasons I think but that is just my opinion. Plus, there are those who think that going deodorant-free is a good thing. All fine and good but try standing in line at the supermarket and imbibing all that goodness!

I usually wait for fall when the weather turns and everything has a nicer feeling about it. Walking becomes a pleasurable activity again and sweating takes a backseat. I love it when the first snow hits and everything is pristine and covered in white but ice is something I can do without. I’d rather stay home when it is icy outside but it doesn’t happen that often so that is another good thing.

I’ll take cold weather all year round! Weirdo? Call me whatever but I simply love bundling up in heavy coats although they’ve made them light as air now which is another plus and add all the other accessories such as gloves, scarves and the rest and I’m in wonderland!

LIVING LIFE

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I don’t know who wrote this but I find these 7 rules to be very helpful in my life so thought I’d share.

7 RULES OF LIFE

LET IT GO

Never ruin a good day by thinking about a bad yesterday.

IGNORE THEM

Don’t listen to other people. Live a life that’s empowering to you.

GIVE IT TIME

Time heals everything.

DON’T COMPARE

The only person you should try to beat is the person you were yesterday.

STAY CALM

It’s okay not to have everything figured out. Know that in time, you’ll get there.

IT’S ON YOU

Only you are in charge of your happiness.

SMILE

Life is short. Enjoy it while you have it.

I like the last one a lot!

Have an amazing day.

Ever Broken a Bone?

Hmm….not that I can remember. I recall one time when I was in a hurry. I had just got out of the shower and had minutes to get to where I needed to go. The floor was wet but I rushed out of the bathroom and then had to run back in to get something when I slipped and hit the side of the bathtub really hard.

I felt a searing pain shoot up my ribs on the right side. The fall knocked the wind out of me. I stood up slowly, felt around to see what I had done but except for the pain nothing else seemed to be amiss. I got dressed and took off to pick someone up at the train station. It was almost midnight and I needed to hurry.

I made it there and as I sat there at the train station, I wondered if I had broken a rib or two. The person finally got there and I told him what had happened. He suggested that I see a doctor the next day. The next morning, I was bruised, the pain was there but not as bad. I didn’t see a doctor, I am stubborn that way. I rubbed some ointment on it, refrained from doing my workouts and after a week of tender loving care, it got better.

That was the closest I came to breaking something. TOUCH WOOD!

The Best Laid Plans…..

“Sundays – sleep until you’re hungry, then eat until you’re sleepy.” Unknown

I had something like that in mind when I went to bed last night. I had finished my meditation ritual and all was calm in my part of the world. Chachi, the cat, was taking it all in stride because by now he knew the human well and when she donned one of her, two sizes too big t-shirts, it meant lights out and quiet time was around the corner. It was time to toe the line.

Chachi behaved and I had a goodnight’s sleep. I had visions of spending most of Sunday in bed having breakfast delivered in bed by my non-existent robotic chef! All the plans were laid-out in my head and I was looking forward to a peaceful Sunday.

You guessed it! Chachi, aka, Little Einstein and the Little Brat had other plans. Sundays are just like any other day so at 5:30 in the morning, he started his usual, “wake the human up” routine. This involves tapping on the head. If that doesn’t work, he had other tried and true methods in his arsenal. One that works without fail is his loud sighing right next to one ear! If that doesn’t work, one method that will have the human jumping out of bed is to fly over her head and land on the other side with a loud thud! He opted for the last method this morning and I woke up with a start but who cares! All that mattered was mission accomplished!

He did exactly that and all my best laid out plans of having a peaceful and no stress Sunday went to hell in a hand basket!

“Coffee, pajamas and no plans – that’s how I Sunday.”

Not today folks. Chachi has other plans!

Have an amazing Sunday.