life – Page 19 – Site Title

Scammer Update

A few days ago I wrote about this guy who contacted me from a dating website. He seemed alright. His ammo, well-heeled, has a good job, humble, nice- looking and so on….

If you want to see what that was about, read my post, “Dating Sinkholes.” Anyway, I had more than a hunch that he was a scammer but he turned the tables on me for a little while anyway. He’s not your normal fly-by-night scammer. This guy was well-versed in the art of scamming. He came across as this awfully sweet guy who wanted to meet up.

He knew how to keep the charade going. Messages were exchanged and he was supposedly on a business trip and would be back over the weekend. Then I received a message saying, “I just got my haircut. Hopefully you will approve.” Hmm…why send that to a stranger? The one other guy who sent me a message like that was when he got that haircut because he had a date with another woman that day! I didn’t know it at the time. Yes, I do attract the same kinds. Must be something in the water or in my DNA!

Moving on….then I got a message that he had just finished dinner and was standing at the harbor looking at a beautiful sunset. He said, “If I had your Whatsapp, I could share this with you.” Right….I had told him I do not give out any personal information until I get to know the person better. Another ploy to work on a woman’s heart. I ignored that remark.

It went on…sweet messages coming from an absolute stranger but he was acting like we had something going. Saturday rolls around and I get this message. He was totally pooped from traveling and needed a day off to recuperate. Normal? Could be or he was accepting the fact that the live fish he thought he had wasn’t biting!

Here’s the thing. Scammers have a well-rehearsed script. Romance scammers try to work on your heart. They usually try to paddle sorry stories and they are pros at it. They will try to get as much personal information as they can use. The first thing is to get your Whatsapp information. They can do a lot with this. My advice, never ever give it out to someone you don’t know. The more important aspect of a scammer is that they will never meet up in person. They will agree to make a date but they will always make excuses as to why they can’t show up. Their pics are usually blurry and they won’t have more than one on there. If they do, the other person may look different like this loser’s profile pics showed.

Scammers are evolving rapidly and they are coming in with more sophisticated methods of conning or rather scamming you. Their goal is to make you part with your well-earned money. If a guy comes calling and he is too good to be true, it is probably a SCAM!

Be careful out there if you are on the dating circuit. Keep your eyes and ears open and definitely pay attention to your intuition. Take small steps and if something smells fishy…..throw it back into the water!

Have an amazing day.

ENERGY

There are many different things that give me energy throughout my day. The first one is Chachi, the cat, although he wouldn’t consider himself as a thing because he thinks he is a little Pharoah living his best life and using up one of his 9 lives!

The little guy gives me positive energy and that is important. He makes my day a whole lot brighter and listening to him moving around on padded feet gives me energy as well. The other thing that gives me energy are my daily walks in nature. It has been said that nature mirrors the human existence and I find that to be true. However, it also teaches if you are willing to listen. I get comfort from nature and I need a daily dose to keep me moving forward.

A healthy lifestyle definitely gives me energy. Food which is nourishing and full of nutrients is my go to for health and vitality. I do spend time planning my meals and ordering out is a once in a blue moon thing. I’d rather prepare it myself and know what is going in those meals to keep me healthy and full of energy rather than leave it to chance. Exercise is another thing that fills me with energy. It is a daily affair and I love working out so it makes it easier for me.

Breathing, different forms of breathing, is a daily must not the kind that we do as a routine pattern, the in and out variety but the kind that takes effort to clear your mind, gives you clarity and fills you with oxygen! It also helps to balance the brain hemispheres. I feel much better breathing like the yogis did and this practice definitely fills me up with energy.

So there you have it. Those are the things that give me energy and keep me operating at my optimal best. I’m adding as I go along but for now the ones I mentioned above work just fine.

Daily writing prompt

What things give you energy?

View all responses

LOL!

Two old men are sitting in a bar. One of them looks at the other and says: “You look familiar. Where you from?”

The second old man replies, “Ireland.”

The first old man looks astonished and says, “No way. I’m from Ireland myself, what a small world.”

The second old man then looks at the first, “What city?”

The first old man says, “Dublin.”

The second old man looks astonished. “No way, I’m from Dublin meself! What a small world.”

The first old man looks at the second old man, “What school you go to?”

The second old man replies, “Saint Mary’s class of 89.”

The first old man is absolutely baffled. “NO WAY! Saint Mary’s class of 89 myself! What a small world!”

At this point, another man comes into the bar and says to the bartender. “Hey Joe! Anything interesting going on?”

The bartender says, “Not really….but the Murphy twins are drunk again.”

😀😀😀

LOL!

Obama vs. Trump

Donald Trump and Barack Obama ended up at the same barber shop. As they sat there, each being worked on by a different barber, not a word was spoken.

The barbers were both afraid to start a conversation, for fear that it would turn nasty. As the barbers finished their shaves in silence, the one who had Trump in his chair reached for the aftershave. But Donald was quick to stop him, jokingly saying, “No thanks. My wife, Melania, will smell that and think I’ve been in a brothel!” The second barber turned to Barack and said, “How about you, Mr. Obama?” Barack replied, “Go right ahead, my wife Michelle doesn’t know what the inside of a brothel smells like.”

BAM!

*************************************************************

I picked up a hitchhiker. The man got in my car and said, “Thank you for picking me up, but I mean how do you know I am not a serial killer or something?”

I said, “I don’t know for sure, but the chances of 2 serial killers being in one car would be astronomical.”

Oops! Think he survived?

Mood Boosters (Archives)

Quotes have the ability to boost up your mood, they can also help you out of the doldrums and just a dose can put a pep in your step and get you going. Here are a few of my favorites to put a positive spin on your day. Enjoy!

“The pages of yesterday cannot be revised. But the pages of tomorrow are blank – and you hold the pen. Make it an inspiring story.” NotSalmon.com

“Don’t worry. Just when you think your life is over, a new story line falls from the sky and lands right in your lap.” Rebekah Crane

Here’s the problem. I don’t want a new story line, I want the old one with a view to the finish line! Doable?

“To be a champ you have to believe in yourself when no one else will.” Sugar Ray Robinson

“Problems are like washing machines. They twist, they spin and knock us around. But in the end, we come out cleaner, brighter and better than before.” Unknown

Fingers and toes crossed and hoping!

“I love it when the coffee kicks in and I realize what an adorable badass I’m going to be today.” Unknown

Coffee does the trick every time!

“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.” Marilyn vos Savant

Never ever give UP!

“Every morning starts a new page in your story. Make it a good one today.” Doe Zantamata

What are you writing in yours today?

“The most courageous decision that you can make each day is to be in a good mood.” Voltaire

This is a hard one but I start with a smile on my face.

Look at the stars……

“It won’t fix the economy. It won’t stop wars. It won’t give you flat abs, or better sex or even help you figure out your relationship and what you want to do with your life. But it’s important. It helps you remember that you and your problem are both infinitesimally small and conversely, that you are a piece of an amazing and vast universe.” Kate Bartolotta

How amazing is that?

AND FINALLY:

“Life is short. SMILE while you still have teeth.” Unknown

Have an amazing day.

Know Your Worth!

This is a nice one. I read it somewhere and it made me sit up and take notice because quite often we let our “value” go unnoticed and settle for way less than we are worth.

A father said to his son, “You graduated with honors. Here is a Volkswagen Beetle that I bought many years ago….it is over 50 years old, but before I give it to you, take it to a dealership downtown and ask how much they are offering you.”

The son went to the dealership, came back to his father and said, “They offered me $10,000 because it looks very used.” The father said, “Take it to the pawn shop.”

The son went to the pawn shop, came back and said, “They only offered me $1,000 because they say it is too old.”

Finally, the father asked his son to take the car to a classic car club and show it there. The son took the car to the club, came back and said, “Some people at the club offered me $100,000 because it is a very rare car and sought after among the members.”

The father said to his son, “I wanted you to understand that the right place appreciates you in the right way. If they don’t value you, don’t be angry, it just means you’re in the wrong place. Those who know your value are the ones who truly appreciate you. Never stay in a place where they don’t recognize your value!

Know your worth, know your value and if you are not appreciated, LEAVE The right person will know your worth and will appreciate you for who you are.

Have an amazing day.

Mandy Hale Quotes (Archives)

Mandy Hale is a blogger turned New York Times bestselling author and speaker. She is also the creator of the Social Media movement, “The Single Woman.” Mandy has made a name for herself by empowering women with her quotes that speak to the heart of the matter. However, the self-help relationship guru remarried her toxic/narcissist ex who broke her heart many times over. She has written many books and articles about the emotional abuse and betrayals she suffered in that relationship. So WHY go back to him? Nobody knows for sure but ‘love’ does work in mysterious ways and sometimes to the detriment of ‘SELF’ and all that matters! It doesn’t change the power her quotes have to change your mindset. Here are some of them to get your day started.

“Sometimes it takes a heartbreak to shake us awake to help us see we are worth so much more than we’re settling for.”

“Don’t waste words on people who deserve your silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all.”

“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go and see what happens.”

“Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.”

“Sometimes you have to move on without certain people. If they’re meant to be in your life, they’ll catch up.”

“You’re beautiful, just the way you are. Shine on, and dare anyone to turn off your lights.”

“Never forget that walking away from something unhealthy is BRAVE, even if you stumble a little on your way out the door.”

“Just be yourself. Let people see the real imperfect, flawed, quirky, weird, beautiful, magical person that you are.”

“Learn to be alone and to like it. There is nothing more freeing and empowering than learning to like your own company.”

My favorite:

You’ll learn, as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less traveled instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and leap before you look. (This is a hard one for me.) Dance as though everybody is watching. March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit in.

YOU ARE ENOUGH AS YOU ARE.

Have an amazing day!

Fragments of Yesterday (Archives)

“And then, just like that, my heart broke. My face crumpled, my composure went and I held him tightly and I stopped caring that he could feel the shudder of my sobbing body because grief swamped me. It overwhelmed me and tore at my heart and my stomach and my head and it pulled me under, and I couldn’t bear it. I honestly thought I couldn’t bear it.” Jojo Moyes

That last line held me in its grip and I went along for the ride for as long as it took. “I couldn’t bear it,” was my mantra when the dream splintered into a thousand pieces and lay in fragments at my feet. “This couldn’t be happening to me!” was my other cry but none of that mattered because the end had arrived and there was no going back to what was.

Cheating is one of the most despicable things one human being can do to another. If truth be told, it happens all the time. It has become a norm in this easy come, easy go world of ours. When it happens, you find yourself going under, and in my case I lost my best friend, a long-time life partner I had known and trusted for a long time. The aftermath is hard to describe. I went from a confident woman to someone I didn’t recognize anymore. There was sadness and of course tears but that line, “I couldn’t bear it,” was the slogan that kept me in the hole that someone else had dug for me.

However, let me tell you, YOU are fully capable of bearing it! It may seem like all is lost and you may feel like you’re looking at absolute darkness but I assure you that you’ll find your way into the light as I did. It took courage, strength, forgiving yourself for what wasn’t your fault and to slowly rise again. Rise again you must because you have no other choice! Let me also tell you that you are enough and those “fragments” of a shattered heart will learn to mend itself. You will learn to look at love and life through different glasses and the next time around when love walks in, you will know better.

“Over the years, confusing fragments, lost corners of stories, have a clearer meaning when seen in a new light, a different place.” Michael Ondaatje

I’ve changed from that young and trusting person I used to be. I thought love once yours would remain forever. I gave my trust to a man who had vowed to love me forever, had called me the love of his life and because best friends don’t hurt each other, I had thought we would make it to the very end. Wrong!

However, I can’t change what I want.

“And that was the cause of my heartache. I wanted everything or nothing at all. I’m not impressed by bits, parts, or almost. I’m a seeker of that which is whole, full, and complete. Completely mine or completely not.” Unknown

If that is in the cards for me is left to be seen. Only time will tell. You can overcome the insurmountable and even though you will carry those scars for a lifetime, you are built to survive. You are strong, you are resilient and you are beautiful. I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror after it happened. I felt UGLY! It took time to overcome that as well.

Cheating causes emotional turmoil, mental health issues, a trust deficit, low self-esteem and sometimes PTSD-like symptoms. Sounds daunting doesn’t it? IT IS! However, the YOU within is capable of overcoming pain and resilient enough to overcome the challenges that it entails.

“You’re not broken. You’re just becoming. Unfolding slowly – like petals in spring. Give yourself time. ”

AND

“What sticks to memory, often are those odd little fragments that have no beginning and no end….” Tim OBrien

Be kind to yourself, love yourself, build yourself up and learn that those “fragments” which were part of your yesterday can help you towards a better tomorrow. Here’s the thing, YOU CAN BEAR IT!

Have an amazing day.

All Fogged Up!

Photo by eberhard grossgasteiger on Pexels.com

I woke up this morning all ready to go walking until I looked outside and saw the fog. It was pea soup thick and the fields seemed to be covered in it. Should I? Go walking that is. I decided to do it anyway.

Perhaps I will get a new perspective I thought. So it was on with the shoes, steady ones that could weather the mud that must be surely out there after two days of rain. I wasn’t wrong about that. As I stepped on the fields, they looked somber with just the cawing of the crows for company. This morning, however, they were loud and raucous! I paid them no mind as I kept walking on the familiar path heading towards the apple trees. The mountains were nowhere to be seen. They were hidden behind a thick veil of fog. However, I knew they were there silently watching.

Fall was in the air. The air was crisp and colder than a few days ago. The trees were still green but it was just a matter of time before the colors would show up. Brilliant oranges, deep dark reds and sunshiny yellows, all heralding a new season moving in, one to my liking. I pulled the sweat jacket closer around me as I approached the hill. Then I saw him. He had his trusted dog with him. It looked like a pit bull but I’m not sure. I’m not into dogs.

I had seen him many times before, always alone and always staring. I don’t really know him but I had seen him a long time ago when my son was in kindergarten and I would drop him off. This guy was always sitting in his car and staring. The stare seems to be a part of his DNA. Anyway, we never exchanged words but sometimes I would think, “Creep!”

Recently he has a big smile on his face when he sees me. Why? I don’t know. Last Friday we crossed paths again. He was coming out of the forest line and I was heading home. We stopped at the junction and there it was this huge smile plastered on his face! I heard something click! What? I don’t know. His blue gray eyes were huge and the whites perfectly white. I thought, “Definitely not a druggie and not a drunk either!” He didn’t look that bad, some might even call nice-looking. Dark hair with a beard to boot. Maybe the Ted Bundy type?!! Anyway, we both stopped, stared at each other and then I said, “hello” and skirted around him. What was that about? I don’t know!

There he was again this morning, his dog on the leash and staring in my direction. He didn’t take his eyes off me. As we approached each other, he gave me this “deep” look and then a smile came on like a neon light! I said, “Good morning” and he said the same and we went our separate ways like “two ships passing in the night” or rather in the morning fogged up light!

What was that click I heard? Perhaps, a twig breaking or my overactive imagination playing tricks on me. Why does he keep staring? Anyway, I’m back home and wondering if I would see him again.

Oh well, maybe it was nothing but who knows. Life plays its own choreography and I am but a tiny pawn in the grand scheme of things.

Have an amazing day.

The Hard Things (Archives)

Most of us cringe at the thought of doing the hard things. Be it a break-up, walking away, losing a job and letting go of things that no longer serve us, it is an exceptionally hard thing to do. It is also not something we look forward to because it means taking the bull by the horns and waging war on what seems to be an impossible task at first. Given time, patience, perseverance and a hard-headed look at what needs to be done to get to the other side, we find it is doable but not easy.

Easy is not what life is about. If anything, easy is not in its vocabulary. It seems at times that “living” is about going through the hard stuff. Sometimes one and sometimes a string of unsolvable and often times impossible situations but you and I know that it is those hard times and how you deal with them that brings out the strength in you. Sure, it would be easier if we didn’t have to deal with them but when has that stopped life from throwing it our way?

Where would we be without them? Probably having a great time without having to walk through the minefield of the hard stuff all equipped and designed to bring you down to your knees if you make a false move. There is no right or wrong way of going about it, it is trial and error and an undying resilience to take what is handed to you and to make it work for you. We’ve all made those false moves where we’ve crashed and burned and just when you think there is nothing left to do except to pick up the pieces and make the most of it, there is light at the end of the dark tunnel. There is that open door that beckons because as you know when one door closes, another one opens but it is human nature or at least it is mine to look past it and back at the one that has closed and is no longer available.

“Hard things are hard because there are no easy answers or recipes. They are hard because your emotions are at odds with your logic. They are hard because you don’t know the answer and you cannot ask for help without showing weakness.” Ben Horowitz

The hard stuff has kept me captive for longer than I want to admit. Truth is, I don’t do “HARD” well. Holding on is my nemesis, letting go of things that no longer serve me is harder still and moving on, well that is an impossible task at times. I hold on hoping that changes will come my way but it never does. Things happen for a reason, people are the way they are because they are wired that way and looking and hoping is not going to change things. However, whatever life throws your way, there is a lesson in there somewhere but it is hard to see when it first hits you. I think we fail miserably at times because we walk in circles, bang our heads on that closed door and refuse to move on until we are drained of energy and there is nothing else to do but to walk through that open door. Human nature at its best? I think so.

We are fully capable and have the strength within to meet the hard stuff head on and to tame it if necessary. It is the fear of the unknown in sync with the weakness within that works hand-in-hand to stop us in our tracks, makes us tremble where we stand as we whisper, I can’t. You and I have had our baptism by fire in one form or another, of this I am sure. The hard thing is just one more obstacle to overcome, nothing more, nothing less. We tend to make it more than what it is. Life is a never-ending circle of challenges in the form of “hard things” to overcome. It is mixed in with the good stuff but it is the hard stuff that brings forth the real you. Your strength, your power and most of all your ability to slay it where it stands takes courage, growth and an attitude of never giving up which will put the “hard stuff” in its place. Who knows if shown the door more often than not, it might decide to stay away. We can hope can’t we?

“I see your fear, and it’s big. I also see your courage, and it’s bigger. We can do hard things.” Glennon Doyle

Have an amazing day.