dailyprompt – Page 40

The Crystal Ball

I wish I had a crystal ball that did my bidding! It would show me the future with no questions asked like an obedient little puppy AND I can then go about changing the outcome!

It would be an amazing power to have at my fingertips but then again too much power in the wrong hands can be destructive and frightening if not used wisely. I have this fear factor that runs rampant at times and holds me hostage so a crystal ball might be the perfect anti-dote to keep it at bay or so I think. If I knew the future I would handle life better is my mantra but as we all know, life dictates and there is no handling it just learning how to do the best we can with what is handed down to us. I need to change my mantra.

Do I really want to know the future? YES and NO! However, a crystal ball showing the way would be a tremendous power to have, don’t you think?

Daily writing prompt

What’s a secret skill or ability you have or wish you had?

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Lovely Weather!

“Spring is the time of the year, when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.” Charles Dickens

This is exactly the kind of weather I love! I don’t like really hot weather so this is the perfect time of year to get out there and to enjoy walks without sweating up a storm and it is what we are having right now. Bright blue skies, cold in the shade but warm and sunny out in the open. A light coat is needed but nothing more. The birds are chirping in the trees and nature is coming alive in more ways than one. I can feel myself doing the same after a long and cold winter and my senses are revving up to go! It is, in my opinion, the most beautiful time of the year and there is more to come and I can’t wait till the trees bloom and everything has a mesmerizing effect. Just a matter of time now.

Dear old man winter,

“I think you need a vacation. You have worked really hard this year. It’s time to let spring start pulling some weight around here too.”

Sincerely,

Enough Winter (Unknown)

Daily writing prompt

What is your favorite type of weather?

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The Teacher

I remember her well. She was young and beautiful but more than that she had a great smile and a quiet way about her. I loved being in her class and somehow I had caught her attention. She would give me an encouraging nod and sometimes outright praise. This stoked my young ego and got me interested in English and in writing in particular. I made it my mission to excel in it!

I was in elementary school and the homework was to write a story, a fictional one. Mine was about a lion, that’s all I can remember but she held it up to the class and said, “This is a beautiful story.” It was the start of my writing career. The lady had no idea that she had set a fire ablaze. Then one day she said, “Tia, come on up and show them how it’s done.” Believe me I was oozing with pride as I walked to the front of the classroom and started writing on the board. Afterwards, she patted me on the head and said, “Well done!” My passion for writing had an outlet and I was on my way.

The English teacher didn’t know it at the time but her kind words, her motivation and her ability to bring forth the talent within me had set the wheels in motion. I became a whizz at writing. My first story made front cover and I was 16 at the time and since then I have written and published thousands of articles. I got my start in a classroom a long time ago from a person who nudged me gently in that direction and nurturing that potential she give me the tools to move ahead. Sometimes it takes just one person to see potential and to light that flame and she did.

Her impact on my writing career was tremendous so thank you.

Daily writing prompt

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

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I Wish I Could….

Wishing and making it come true are two different things. However, if wishes could come true, I wish for a day of doing NOTHING! Absolutely nothing.

Most days I get up at around 6 in the morning not because I want to but because Chachi, the cat, has an inbuilt alarm clock that goes off each morning at the very same time. He decides that it is time for his mom to get up as well! After a cup of coffee and a light breakfast, I watch the news. These days watching the news is an uneasy process. I can stomach about 15 minutes or less and it’s enough of Trump and his craziness already!

It is time to get ready for the day. It starts off with a few minutes of meditation and off I go. Some days there is just too much to get done and being single means “fixing” things that don’t work. It could be something as small as replacing a lightbulb or as big as getting a major gadget repaired. Having a house means there are things that need repairing and if I can’t get it done than it’s time to get someone to come in and take care of it. However, I also do things to keep the stress factor in check like walking or just going quiet for a while but I want a day where I can get up at my own leisure, stay in PJs all day and have absolutely nothing to do. No phone calls to answer, no text messages to reply to and nothing to take care off. If not every day then just for a day.

I want to put a sign out that reads:

“OUT FOR THE DAY!”

Daily writing prompt

What do you wish you could do more every day?

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Tattoo-Free!

My answer to this question would be NONE whatsoever! I am not a fan of tattoos although I have known and know people who love this mode of expression.

To each his or her own I say. That said, I don’t have any on any part of my anatomy and will never have any. It is just my preference. I had a girlfriend, a redhead, who had tattoos running down both her arms and I found it to be distracting. Conversations with her were stunted because my eyes kept going to those tattoos and even though they were fascinating I was too busy deciphering what those tattoos were trying to say instead of concentrating on what we were talking about! It was just a little too much. I knew someone else who had tattooed the name of his wife on one arm that was when they were in love but when it ended, he had to tattoo something else to cover that name!

You get the picture. I am not a fan of tattoos and never will be. Nothing against people who have them but it is just not my thing and I’ll leave it at that.

Daily writing prompt

What tattoo do you want and where would you put it?

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Loyalty

Actually there are a lot of words that describe me but I narrowed it down to two and from the two I decided to pick one and that is loyalty. The other word was dependable.

Loyal is defined as, “reliable and always true, like your trusty dog.” Well, being that trusty dog also means you get kicked many times over because loyalty doesn’t flee the coop when something or someone doesn’t show it the respect it deserves, it stays to fight another day. We are true to the core or at least I am.

I remember my ex saying this when he got caught with his cheating ways. “I knew that you would never forgive me.” Not exactly true, I did forgive him the first time but when I noticed he was a repeated offender, it was time to close the door. Even “loyalty” has its limits.

I am a loyal friend, a loyal partner and most of all loyal to myself. I also know the difference between right and wrong and that helps in my journey as a loyal and faithful person.

Daily writing prompt

What is one word that describes you?

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The Awakening

This one is embarrassing. The best compliment I’ve ever received was when I was in my early 20s and it was given to me by a group of businessmen.

I was in Singapore at the time and in McDonalds meeting a girlfriend for lunch. Sitting behind us was a group of men in suits. They kept staring but I didn’t pay it much mind. After 20 minutes they got up and left. I was glad because they made me uneasy for some reason. A few minutes later they walked back in. There were about 10 of them altogether so I froze in mid-conversation. They walked to our table, one guy had a single rose in his hand and an envelope. He didn’t say a word as he handed me both, smiled and they left. The place was eerily quiet as everyone glanced over at us.

I opened the envelope and there was a card in it. It said:

“To the most beautiful girl in Singapore.”

It also contained 30 dollars to pay for lunch I guess. Nothing else. No telephone number nothing. I never saw them again but that chance meeting has stayed in my memory because it literally blew my mind!

I was a wild child in my teens running around barefoot in the forest and playing with the ducks and most days I was covered with mud from head to toe but I loved it. I blossomed when I was 16 and those things were put aside. I never thought of myself as a beauty but things changed. I went from being a tomboy to a quiet young woman. More introvert than anything else. That compliment was my awakening to a different world. Beauty is more than a buzz word, beauty is power in some cases. These days they still tell me I am attractive but I march to a different drumbeat. It is more about the inner beauty and not about the fading kind.

Daily writing prompt

What was the best compliment you’ve received?

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Cross-Country Trip

Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike? What about horse and buggy? Just kidding.

I don’t like trains so that is out of the question, I don’t like buses and bikes either. So that leaves the car and or airplane. Airplanes were my mode of transport going overseas or for going to another country. I always found it stressful and I’m not good with dealing with jetlag, it took me several days to get over it. So that seems to be out as well.

The car is the last one standing. It is my current mode of transport for doing the things I need to get done everyday like running to the store or other stuff that is part and parcel of my daily existence. Cross-country trips are far and few these days but I’ve done it in the past. The car is a comfortable way of travel but depending on where you’re at, it can get more than stressful especially if you’re on the Autobahn and driving with the speed monsters. It can scare the hell out of you. I still prefer the car if I had to do a cross-country trip just for the comfort factor alone and NOT having to deal with the masses. However, it has its ups and downs as well.

Daily writing prompt

You’re going on a cross-country trip. Airplane, train, bus, car, or bike?

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The Most Confident Person I Know

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

This is a hard one and this early in the morning? My mind is doing a scramble to unravel that mystery because I’ve known many people in my life who seemed very confident and had a handle on this thing called life.

If I had to narrow it down to one person, I would say it was my mom. She is no longer here but her presence remains and is a constant reminder that I can do all things as she did in her life. She was a petite person but a giant when it came to raising her children. Some would call her an “helicopter mom” because her life was based around us and she was constantly looking out for us but when it came to parenting, she was a one woman parenting machine! I take many of my cues from her when it comes to my son and the questions he has. She had answers to every question and believe me there were many many questions!

Part of that parenting system didn’t cater to a rambunctious young girl because I wanted things my way but she stood her ground. She stood up to adversity like a pro and challenges were just that, something to be conquered or handled and that was it. No berating herself like I do. I remember her standing tall even at the worst times in her life and even when her life came to an end because someone chose to end it, she put up a fight. She was and is, the most confident person I know and have known. She had faith in herself and in God and these two things combined together were an unbeatable team. I am confident but nowhere close to where she was but I am learning to embrace my own strength and I see confidence in how I handle things as well. Perhaps the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree as they say.

Combating Negative Feelings

I would say the same things I mentioned in yesterday’s “Daily Prompt,” plus I’ll add a few more. Besides walking, working out and meditation, I put my feelings down on paper or write articles on how I am feeling and what I have done or am doing to combat those feelings.

Writing is a tremendous tool, if you can call it that, to bring out what I am holding inside into the open so that it no longer weighs me down. Getting it out there has also helped me to get a better focus on the problem and to come up with better ways of handling whatever is bothering me. Somehow seeing it for what it is, just a ripple even if at times it seems like a big rock, helps me to deal with the situation in a more focused way. Writing is often my go to method for solving negative feelings and it has been working so far.

The other method I turn to is breathing. Whenever I feel like I am drowning in negativity, it happens from time to time but when I sit myself down and go within and start one of my breathing techniques, it melts away. This doesn’t always work but more often than not. There’s something about taking a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds and slowly letting go with a sigh that releases the anxiety and nervousness within. It is a stress buster and just a few minutes a day does wonders for my inner being, my psyche and for letting negative feelings go where they belong, wherever that is. Peace is what I seek and it is what I find when I do “deep breathing” several times a day.

Daily writing prompt

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

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