believe in yourself Archives - Inspired & Strong | Making the Best of Every Day with Stacy

I saw this quote, and it made me think of my single friends and those friends who may be struggling in their current relationships or lack thereof. We learn from all of our relationships…friendships, spouses, partners, family. And some of those lessons are extremely hard. We need to believe that those lessons lead us to the ulitmate relationship where you can live, thrive and experience the greatest peace.

May your next lover be your life partner, not another life lesson. May it be the kind of love that brings peace, consistency, and growth, not another chapter you have to heal from.

In Family

A Poem for Dad

October 17, 2026 No Comments

Today would have been my dad’s 75th birthday. Happy Heavenly Birthday, Dad! I hope you all are celebrating up in Heaven today. My Prince has been working for the past two weeks, therefore, I have been alone with my thoughts. It has been a long two weeks. For some reason, I have had a dark cloud over me. I am not sure why, but I have been emotional and sad. I see how people go down the deep, dark path because I could have. I was thinking how sad it was to lose my dad when he was so young. And I thought of all the things that have happened over the last 14 years and how much I wish he was here to see them. How much I wish he could have met My Heart and how I wish he was here to call when I need advice.

I came back to Florida about a week ago, and I found a folder of poems that I wrote in high school. It made me realize how much I loved writing and still do. I need to get better at making my blog and writing in general more of a priority. Anyway, I wrote this poem for my Dad on June 16, 1990 for Father’s Day. Although these words are from 14-year-old me, they still ring true today.

Dad, for the wonderful man in my life

who always knows the answers

or he asks his wife.

Thank you for giving me advice

You always know what to say

whether naughty or nice.

Daddy, you have helped me so much

with basketball, softball,

sports and such.

But you leave the hard stuff to me,

hopefully everything will turn out

the way you want it to be.

You have taught me to do the best I can

that I can do anything

against any woman or man.

So this is for you, Dad, with all the love in my heart,

I hope we’ll always be together

and never apart!

Dad, I just want you to know how much you are missed. I want you to know how much I love you and how much I wish you were here. Even though I have shed a few tears over the last few weeks over the losses in my life, I realize how blessed I was to have been 36 years with you. I am blessed to know your smile. I cherish the lessons you taught me, and I look forward to celebrating your birthday with you one day in Heaven.

If you are feeling down or having a bad few weeks, it is ok. You can take some time to feel down, but then you have to pull yourself out of it. Have a therapy session with your therapist or friends and family. Try to find a positive in the day. Get out in nature, go for a walk, enjoy the sunshine, listen to the birds sing and then look for that little sign from Heaven that your person is sending you positive vibes.

In Weekly Wednesday Words

The Right Doors

October 7, 2026 No Comments

I saw this quote the other day and thought it needed to be shared. Sometimes we get so frustrated when our lives don’t seem to be moving in the direction we want them to go. But I believe things happen for some reason or another. So when you are ready, the next door will open up for you. Just keep grinding and becoming a better version of yourself every day.

The right doors won’t open for you until you are the version of yourself that’s supposed to walk through them.

~ unknown

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Too Easy

September 16, 2026 No Comments

Why do we find it so easy to hate and destroy each other rather than praising, loving, and building each other up? I don’t understand it, but I see it around me every day. Why can’t we spread love as easily as we spread hate? Let’s try to find the positive in each other and tell one another.

It has always been easy to hate and destroy. To build and to cherish is much more difficult.

~ Queen Elizabeth II

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Your Death

July 15, 2026 No Comments

Your death is the one thing you can count on. How you live your life is up to you. You can complain that you didn’t get a fair deal or that life is too hard, but it is all what you make of it. If you don’t like your life as it is, change it. Your happiness is a choice. We all know the older we get, the closer it comes. So live life well and do it with grace and kindness. Just do unto others as you would like them to do unto you.

Your death will come on an ordinary day-in the middle of unfinished plans, unanswered messages, and dreams still in progress.

The work will keep turning…But eternity will begin.

So don’t just live a little, live for what lasts. Walk with God. Love deeply. Forgive quickly. Speak truth. Choose what honors Christ.

Because one ordinary day here becomes forever there.

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

In Family

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

June 26, 2026 1 Comment

Well, it’s a little late, but Happy Father’s Day to my dad, my Gramps, and to my Prince, who is a wonderful Dad to two awesome sons. And Happy Father’s Day to all the other dads, stepdads, pup dads, etc. out there. I hope you had a great weekend celebrating YOU! On Sunday, we celebrated my Heart with a Father’s Day brunch at our local Riverside Golf Course. Then we did some projects and had dinner with friends at Hitchy’s while watching the end of the US Open. It was a great day! But also a sad day because I didn’t have my dad to call to wish a Happy Father’s Day.

My Dad left us 14 years ago on May 23rd, losing his battle with lung cancer. How has it been 14 years? It’s so unreal. Then, to try to wrap my head around the fact that his battle started nine years before that, when he was just 51 years old.

Fifty-one! And now I am 50. It makes me so sad when I sit still long enough to think about it. It makes me so mad. I wish he were here. I would love for Jeff to meet him. I would love for the kids to meet him. He would have loved being a grandfather. He would have loved traveling and enjoying retirement. He would have loved golfing when he could and teaching the grandkids how to change a tire. I appreciate the 36 years I had with him, but most days I wish it were more. It just sucks.

I was driving to an appointment a few weeks ago in Florida in Ellie EOS the V, which is a stickshift, and I was listening to Y2Country when Alan Jackson’s Drive came on. The song brought tears to my eyes because it reminded me of my dad. As young as we were when we had a boat, he taught us to drive it. When we were 12, he taught us how to drive a car and told us how important it was to learn to drive a stickshift. It made me appreciate all that he taught us, but also made me wish he were here to call when I was thinking about him.

Why he was taken so young, I don’t know. All I know is his death taught me to live life more fully. If you follow my social media, then you see that I do try to live my life to the fullest. I most likely overcompensate for the losses in my life by trying to explore every inch of the world around me. But someone knew what was on my heart, and someone sent me my soulmate, who happens to like traveling and experiencing the world just as much as I do. They sent me someone who opened my world to things I didn’t even know were possible. And for that I appreciate. So thank you, Dad, for sending me someone who loves me as much as you loved us.

My Rock and I want to see as much of this world as possible while also wanting to make as many memories as possible. We love being around people. We love laughing and taking it all in. Of course, life isn’t all roses, but we try to make the best of what we’ve got.

I hope all the dads out there had an amazing Father’s Day, and I hope they continue to be appreciated by their children for all the amazing work that they do throughout the year. For all the dads that need to do the job of both mom and dad, I hope you know how wonderful you are and what an inspiration you are to others. And to those missing their dads like I do, keep your head up and make your father proud by living the best life that you can.

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Your Job

June 17, 2026 No Comments

I think we all try to change people, and we need to realize that we can’t. People need to change for themselves. It is not our job to judge people either. It is our job to find people we want to surround ourselves with. Surround yourself with like-minded people who are always striving to be a better version of themselves and who can help you become a better version of yourself. If they are not, then they don’t need to be in your circle.

It is not your job to police anyone else’s behavior or educate them on who you think they should be. Your only job is to filter (for yourself) who gets a ticket into your world, and who needs to stay at the gate.

~ Amy Young

Photo by Vonecia Carswell on Unsplash

In Family

Happy Birthday, Hubby!

June 8, 2026 No Comments

Today, I want to wish my Prince the happiest of birthdays. I am grateful that 57 years ago, my Heart was born. It’s hard to believe that we met nine years ago at a CrossFit class. I never thought that quitting my career in 2015 would have led me to care for Sweet Gram, which in turn led me to Fort Myers, which in turn led me to this amazing man.

So Happy birthday, my Love! I hope you have an amazing day in Alaska. Although we don’t get to spend today together because of work, we had a great week celebrating you and our summer in Park City. Thank you for always being there for me, for putting effort into our relationship, and for always trying to make yourself and us better every day. Through passion, hard work, and determination, you became a strong, kind, caring man who would do anything for your family and friends. And I am the luckiest girl in the world to be on this lifelong adventure with you!

For the past nine years, we have been nonstop. You have introduced me to people and places I never dreamed of knowing. I am so grateful that we have the best friendships in the world. People always say that opposites attract, but you and I are anything but that. And it works for us. We both love seeing new things, going on new adventures, and exploring the world around us. We both want to travel to as many places as possible, and we enjoy doing that together. So here’s to another trip around the sun and another year of amazing adventures!

Happy Birthday, babe, and thank you for being mine!

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Do It Anyway

June 3, 2026 No Comments

People may not appreciate what you do or say when you are kind and honest. And many people may not like it when you find happiness. But you need to be true to yourself and not let anyone else bring you down.

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.

If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

~ Mother Teresa

Photo by Viktor Forgacs – click ↓↓ on Unsplash

In Weekly Wednesday Words

What We Learn

May 27, 2026 No Comments

What we learn as we get older is that life doesn’t always go as we plan. We need to learn to control what we can and not worry about what we can’t. Life is going to throw us lemons so let’s make lemonade.

At my age, I’ve learned that most of what we worry about never happens, and most of what does happen we never saw coming. So here’s my advice: prepare for what you can, accept what you can’t, and spend more time living than worrying. The graveyards are full of people who died with perfect plans but unlived lives. Don’t be one of them.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash