The “Hate” Question

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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 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.

The Power of Failure

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No one thinks that when “failure” happens it is the catalyst to success. Quite often it is seen as the direct opposite. However, it has been said that “Failure is not a fatal event but a crucial, constructive part of the journey to success.”

I’ve seen it happen on a personal level many times over. As a young girl, I fell in love with the wrong guy and it would happen many times over but that first time showed me the catastrophic effects of failure. I took it personally. The after effects I mean, and refused to budge for days or rather was it weeks on end. I wore sackcloth and ashes and mourned the loss like there was no tomorrow. It was only after I decided to take stock of where I was that I learned that there are lessons to be learned, painful ones, but lessons nonetheless. He was the wrong guy and it wouldn’t have worked. I learned never to repeat that mistake again. However, there were other lessons that came disguised as love but of the wrong kind each one teaching me to move forward with grace and to embrace the opportunities that failure brings.

I am at a place in my life where I know that failure is not just failure. It is not the end of the world and neither does it come to visit to stop you in your tracks. It is there to show you a better way, to make you stronger and if you are brave enough to embrace it, it shows you a better path. There is power within failure, embrace it for what it is, a learning curve, and go from there one foot in front of the other.

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again – only this time more wisely.” Henry Ford

Have a wonderful day.

Three Objects I Couldn’t Live Without

I think it would be my computer, my mobile phone and lastly but not least my car.

The computer is the thing I go to after having my first cup of coffee and breakfast. I wonder what is waiting for me there. Perhaps a message from the publisher that the final manuscript is waiting for my approval but so far no luck there! Otherwise, I look at what the Daily Prompt is about and go from there. It is a companion of sorts although inanimate but still it is something I can’t live without. What if it breaks down? Lord, have mercy! I think I would be lost without it.

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The mobile phone is my security blanket. It is there as a back up if the land line doesn’t work or for some reason is down which has happened many times before. It is next to me when I go to sleep and one I reach for in the middle of the night when sleep evades me. There is information at my finger tips and help if needed when I am out and about. Nope, I can’t live without it either.

My car is my mode of transportation to get me from Point A to Point B. I don’t think about how much I need it until it breaks down which it did a month or two ago and then it hit home that I had been taking it for granted. It was time to change that mindset! It is back and running and purring like a new born.

Three inanimate objects but I can’t see my life without them and they are needed for my daily existence. Perhaps I place too much importance on them but that’s the way it is and so it will stay.

Daily writing prompt
What are three objects you couldn’t live without?

My Growth Experiences…

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It’s early in the morning and my mind is not all there. However, I’ll give it a try since I just had my first cup of coffee and I’m raring to go!

I would say “loss.” Many of us go through it and some of us refuse to learn from it. Loss to us is simply that. Losing something precious, losing a relationship for whatever the reason and of course death is the ultimate loss. These three things taught me that life is fragile but more importantly life is about learning because it (life) has lessons planned and learning and moving on is the only way to go. Standing still is not an option, screaming and howling is not an option, although you can try and I have, thumping your nose at it is not going to work either.

More than my marriage breaking up, I think it was death that brought home the fact that nothing lasts forever but I have strength, incredible strength within the kind that is capable of slaying monsters. First I had to accept that the person had moved on and I was left standing to pick up the pieces. It took crying, incredible grief, talking to myself, finding avenues to let that grief out but most of all when all was said and done, I took up the reins of life again and moved forward one step at a time and I am still moving forward although some days are harder than others. Loss teaches us that when one door closes another one opens. If you keep looking at that closed door, there is no moving forward but if you embrace and move through that open door there is a world of opportunities and new possibilities waiting to be discovered. Courage is needed and of course strength to push you through. It is still a learning process for me and I haven’t reached the pinnacle yet but maybe one day I will or maybe life is just that, when you think you’ve mastered a lesson along comes another. If that’s the case, make it a simpler one the next time around PLEASE!

Daily writing prompt
What experiences in life helped you grow the most?

My Belief in Fate/Destiny

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I do believe that fate/destiny are intertwined and things or events in life that take place do so because of these two entities if you can call them that. There is a higher force at work here and perhaps everything has already been put in motion according to how it should unfold and your life is not really your own. You are going along with the flow so to speak.

Fate is defined as “a power or agency determining events and destinies, acting beyond our control” and “destiny is responsible for everything. This destiny is predetermined and unchangeable.” If that is the case, it is frightening to say the least. It raises the question what if everything has already been preordained and nothing you do is going to change the outcome of what your destiny is going to be?

One particular event comes to mind. I met my ex at a university dance but I do believe that “fate” had arranged that meeting. After a painful breakup, I had taken a year off to recuperate and dating was on the backburner until that fateful evening. I was persuaded by some well-meaning friends to show up at the dance and I remember digging in my heels and saying no but I did go and there he was this tall, skinny and nerdy-looking individual who was not my type at first glance. Fate had other plans and destiny started the ball rolling that night and we ended up together. Even though we didn’t stay together, I feel the meeting was arranged by a higher force and destiny did the rest to put the chain of events in motion. Why did it happen if “forever” was not in the cards? Who knows, maybe it was some cruel trick played by fate/destiny and there was a lesson to be learned.

I’ll never know but I do believe that fate/destiny do exist and sometimes it works in your favor and sometimes it doesn’t. Yours is not to know the reason why!

Daily writing prompt
Do you believe in fate/destiny?

Saying Goodbye

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Saying goodbye to when I was a wild child running around barefoot, playing in duck puddles and letting my mind roam where it wanted to was a hard one. I never wanted to grow up.

I was a tom boy and I embraced that phase of my life with my whole being. It was a time when I felt free as a bird and “life” was forgiving and nothing was taken too seriously. It was about having fun, drumming up new things to do and having an island as my OWN to do as I pleased is a feeling I can’t describe. It was freedom at its best.

It changed when I was pulled back to earth unceremoniusly and reminded in a no nonsense fashion that I was a girl and it was time I realized that and acted accordingly! I rebelled but when I saw that young boy, the one who had moved into our neighborhood, things changed. I liked the way he looked and it was time to pack my tom boy days up, put them to sleep and MOVE ON!

However, if I had to go back and do it all over again, I wouldn’t hesitate one minute. It was the best time of my life and will remain so.

Daily writing prompt
Describe a phase in life that was difficult to say goodbye to.

Someone Else for a Day?

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I can say a lot of things here and pick some influential people who changed life for the better but I’m going to go with someone who makes my life a joy and one who is there from the moment I wake up to the time I turn off the lights and go to sleep.

If I could, I would like to be Chachi, the cat, or rather Little Einstein as he likes to be called. Some might say pick a person but this little furball is a person to me. I would like to see life through his eyes for a change. Sometimes I wonder what he thinks as he looks at me with those big green eyes, I see love but it might be something else altogether! I want to see what is missing in his life and what could be made better.

The little bundle of joy has me wrapped around his paws in more ways than one. I think a cat’s life can’t be beat, well, I am speaking about HIS! There is nothing to worry about, life is a breeze and now that I’ve removed the big Japanese cherry tree from blocking his view in front of the kitchen window, Chachi has a wide-screen TV! He spends his days following me around like a second shadow and his needs are taken care of. When he is bored, he sleeps the day away and when he feels like company, it’s Mommy time! Cuddles, hugs, and kisses are all part of his daily existence and he gets plenty of those. So I say, I would like to be Chachi for a day. The laid-back existence is appealing and “no thinking” and “no worries” makes it a life I would like to experience for a day.

Daily writing prompt
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be, and why?

Most Ambitious DIY Project

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I think it was to renovate one of the rooms upstairs. The door needed some painting and the walls as well. I wanted to turn it into a nice guest room and instead of getting a professional to do it which would have cost a lot of money, I decided to give it a try. A “TRY” is the main word here since I had no experience doing what I was about to undertake.

I Googled and than YOUTUBED to get some knowledge on how and where to start with this project. It seemed like a monster undertaking but I had time on my hands and ambition on my side or so I thought! The beginning went as planned. I got the “stuff” I needed and was pleased as punch with my progress. Then it went downhill from there! Nothing seemed to be going right and I was covered with paint from head to toe in no time at all! I had forgotten to put a plastic cover on the floor to protect the carpet so I had another mess going. Halfway through the day, I gave up! It was time to call in the people who knew what they were doing. An amateur was no match for this huge DIY project.

Long story short, the guys came in, took one look, laughed and got the job done in record time. I spent the next week trying to get the paint out of my hair, fingers, arms and everywhere else! Lesson learned and I kowtow to the people in the know. DIY is not for me, I am a klutz in more ways than one!

Daily writing prompt
Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.

Cuss and Slur Words

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Sometimes we need that duct tape over our mouths! There is not just one word but several that I would like to see permanently eradicated from usage simply because they do not add but detract from the English language as a whole.

Their use is easy to those who have a limited vocabulary and to those who think some of those words are “power words.” I detest the “F” word. Listening to someone using this word like confetti strewn throughout a sentence makes my skin crawl. I grew up in a household where cuss words, swear words and racial slurs were not allowed and if caught using them, there was hell to pay. A younger brother rebelled against such restrictions and the “F” word became his favorite word to get his disgust, anger or whatever else he was trying to get across. I heard him using it one day and told on him! Yes I was a tattle-tale but it was for his own good. Dad read him the riot act after hearing about it and we didn’t talk for a long time after. He did forgive me at a later point in time and I never heard him use it again or maybe not just around me!

If I have to cuss or use a swear word, I SPELL it out. It seems to take the sting out of it or so I think! A former boyfriend asked me, “Why can’t you just say the “F” word and be done with it?” My answer, “I can’t!” Fortunately, there are not many occasions where I’ve had to resort to such words and I can count them on one hand! Coming back to cuss words, George Washington once said:

“The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.”

However, Mel Brooks had this to say: “I’ve been accused of vulgarity. I say that’s bulls**t.”

Two sides of the coin right there. I think eradicating such words especially of the hurtful nature such as racial slurs is a must but I can wish and hope and stand on my head and turn blue in the face but change will be a long time coming if ever!

Daily writing prompt
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?