believe in yourself Archives - Page 4 of 24 - Inspired & Strong

As you read in Secret to Life, Sweet Gram would have been 100 years old on September 13. Since her passing in 2021, I have been on the path of trying to find my “new” identity. I spent my life being an independent woman educator who made her own money, bought her own cars, owned her house, and paid her bills on time. I wanted to be an independent woman.

I studied hard and graduated college with an elementary and special education degree. Then I received my Masters Degree in 2007 and became a Coordinator of Special Education. I was in the education field for 16 years. In 2015, I quit to go to Thailand (to teach English) and then became Gram’s caregiver until 2021 when she passed. I even did some remote work from 2020 until 2022. All of my jobs were rewarding and satisfying especially, caregiving for Gram. I enjoyed them and all the people I worked with.

Since Gram passed, I have been searching for something, my “new identity”. Although I don’t need to make money I felt like I needed a career or a job. Everyone always asks “what do you do?” I am stuck with no answer. I have tried to find something that I love to do. Something to stick. But it appears the only thing I am good at is running meetings and being organized. Since leaving the field of education, I have become a realtor, a travel agent, a NuSkin consultant, and a Blogger. Nothing seems to come easy or natural, and nothing seems to make me any money. I feel like the only thing I am good at is being a retired educator and a professional gypsy. And of course I do love writing.

I don’t know how to be a travel agent or a salesperson. I haven’t had real training in these fields therefore, it is frustrating and makes me feel inept. I feel like I owe it to my old self to have a job. But I am trying to let go of the past and open my eyes and my heart to my new self.

I love my new self and the life that My Heart and I lead. We are Never Home, and I am blessed to have the opportunity to do and see so many things that I always dreamed of seeing. If I had a job I would miss out on these opportunities. So, I finally have decided that I don’t need a “job” that makes money. I need a “job” where I feel I have a purpose. I feel that purpose in my Blog. I enjoy writing my posts and hopefully passing on inspiring messages and posts to people who may need some encouragement. I also enjoy volunteering at Valerie’s House in Fort Myers.

As you have read, life is about making changes. And this is another season of change in my life. I think we need to always be willing to change and be present in our lives. I have been reading a lot about being in the moment like three-year-olds are. They are not worried about the past. They bring no baggage with them. They aren’t worried about the future, and they have no fear. They are just wiggling around, smiling, exploring, and discovering the world around them. Maybe we shouldn’t act like three-year-olds as far as maturity but maybe we take a life lesson and be free in our lives like they are. Let’s live in the moment and enjoy each moment.

Photo by Sander Sammy on Unsplash

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Airport Pickups

October 2, 2024 No Comments

Airport pickups are the best! Seeing your friends or family right outside that door after a flight is absolutely amazing! Sometimes you have been traveling for hours and had a long flight. Sometimes it’s a short and sweet flight. Sometimes flights have been delayed and you have been up all night. But when someone is right outside that door with a big smile and a bigger hug, all the worries seem to disappear.

Airport pickups are such a show of love. Doesn’t matter if it is romantic or platonic. Anyone who picks you up from the airport that you are aren’t paying to do so, actually loves you.

Photo by Collab Media on Unsplash

In Pilot's Wife

Dead Duck

October 1, 2024 No Comments

We got to Florida about a month ago. Jeff only had a few hours but I was planning on staying for the week. We wanted to go down and do some yard work and get a head start on the “post summer” cleanup. And, of course I was planning on writing and laying by the pool. Well, as we have learned and as all we all know “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry” (by Robert Burns).

…so instead of having a few hours to relax and enjoy our Florida home we ended up spending the next three days busting our ass cleaning.

Why you say? Well, A Dead Duck I say!!?? Yep. A Dead Freaking Duck. We have no idea how it got into our house or how long it had been there. Our best guess is it came through the chimney flu. Our friends say animals can only live 24-48 hours without food or water. So, it appears he was probably in the house a couple of days. He did some damage in the hours he was alive. He searched for a way out as we observed by the marks against the sliding glass doors. He definitely wasn’t happy that he was trapped. He knocked over a few things and relieved himself on our beautiful white couch.

It makes me sick to think about it. In 2022, we came home to a hurricane-flooded garage and entryway. Everyone helped each other in the neighborhood. We had the best of friends help us, and we were able to help our neighbors whose houses were flooded three times as much as ours was. I was so grateful that our damage was contained to the garage.

Even though this dead duck made a mess of the house, I was thankful that he didn’t ruin everything in our game room, knock over lamps, or break a window. It also made me appreciate My Rock even more. Even though he only had about six hours to help me, he was calm. He said let’s concentrate on the master bedroom and the kitchen. You need to eat and you need to sleep.

Therefore, we got to work. We called Terminix to see if they would get the dead duck but they said their next appointment was on Thursday! Thursday?? That was four days away!! Are you kidding me? What in the world is your service for? Anyway, My Valentine saved the day by scooping up the duck and tossing him in to the trash. Thank goodness it was trash day. We started with spots on the floor and worked on mopping it together. Then disinfecting the counters and washing anything we could take off beds, couches, etc. We used bleach, vinegar, and the hottest of water. Even if there were not spots we scrubbed it anyway.

I searched for how to clean and disinfect the house. I didn’t want to ruin our couches so we called our homeowners insurance to see if there was anything they could do. We also had a warranty on one of our couches so we submitted paperwork.

After six hours of cleaning, I had to take Jeff to the airport. There was a huge storm so we sat in the car for a few minutes until it subsided. He hated leaving me with the mess of that dead duck but he knew I would handle it as best I could.

I continued cleaning a bit when I got home and then I couldn’t sleep because all I could think about was another animal somehow getting into our home. I felt disgusting and wondered how toxic having a duck in your house could be. I learned that people keep birds as pets and even let them run free all over the house. They gave great advice on cleaning up after them and it gave me some relief that maybe the house wasn’t completely ruined by this random bird. The next day I had our very good friends come over and close the chimney flu. A word to the wise, CLOSE THAT THING whenever you are not having a fire!!

Everyone was very efficient. Insurance adjusters and rug cleaners came the next day. I continued cleaning and disinfecting. I worked nonstop for the next three days. Once I had the inside in a good spot I worked on the outside. During Hurricane Debby in August of 2024, we had about two inches of flooding in our garage. So, I wanted to get it swept out and make sure things were dried out. It rained on my car so I wanted to get it washed as well. And lastly, the weeds and ivy were out of control so I needed to do some yardwork, too.

Needless to say, by Friday evening I was exhausted and sore. I went to a friends’ house to rehash the insanity of the week and to drink a few old fashions. The next day I boarded a flight to Denver. I couldn’t wait for a week of hanging out with friends and my husband. I was so ready to have all the fun and try to forget about that dead duck.

My takeaways after this experience are:

1. Close the chimney flu

2. Be grateful for what you have.

3. Nothing is as terrible as it seems.

4. Be calm.

5. Make a plan.

6. Help each other out.

Furthermore, I Googled what a dead duck means and it said it’s a sign to move on and let go of the past. I am taking this as just that. Be grateful for what I have and look forward to the future. I don’t need to live up to my ideals of the past or anyone else’s ideas about me. I need to have a purpose in life and my purpose is writing to you. I need to experience life and I experience life by traveling. I need meaningful opportunities and I do that by volunteering for Valerie’s House and playing in a ladies’ golf league. Remember, folks, when life throws you lemons make lemonade! (and maybe mix it with vodka).

Photo by Freysteinn G. Jonsson on Unsplash

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Yesterday

September 25, 2024 No Comments

Too often we let yesterday’s regrets interfere with today’s beauty. Let go of the past and concentrate on the beauty in front of us.

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”

—Will Rogers

Photo by @felipepelaquim on Unsplash

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Be Yourself

September 18, 2024 No Comments

There are many pressures from our friends, family, and society that make us want to live up to someone else’s standards. But let’s take a look inside and figure out who we are first. Then stay true to yourself in all situations and circumstances.

“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.”

―Virginia Woolf

Photo by Timur Romanov on Unsplash

In Adventures with Gram

Secret to Life

September 13, 2024 No Comments

I saw this article about the secret to life through an email subscription I get for free called “1440” which is a daily newsletter. It is a great email with the day’s news with unbiased reporting which is rare to get these days. It takes five minutes to read and there are links if you’d like to continue reading further into some articles. Please check it out.

I didn’t know why it was called 1440 but after reading their introduction I found out they named it that because the printing press was invented around the year 1440, spreading knowledge to the masses and changing the course of history. Also, in every day, there are 1,440 minutes. Now we know.

Here is a snippet from the article. “Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest known person, died at the age of 117 on August 19, 2024. Born on March 4, 1907, in San Francisco, she moved to Catalonia, Spain, at age 8. Morera witnessed major historical events, including two world wars and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, and she became the oldest known survivor of COVID-19 at age 113. She was active on social media as “Super Àvia Catalana” (or Super Catalan Grandma), amassing nearly 19,000 followers.

There are approximately 722,000 centenarians—those aged 100 and older—globally, with 108,000 in the US. Supercentenarians—those aged 110 and older—are rare, with about 250-300 worldwide and roughly 60-70 known in the US. Morera credited her longevity to enjoying nature, good company, avoiding toxic people, luck, and genetics.

Some studies suggest the maximum human lifespan could be between 120 and 150 years. The oldest verified person to have ever lived died in 1997 at 122. The current oldest living person is now 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka from Japan.”

What an amazing life! To have lived through all of that is a beautiful accomplishment. Congratulations to Maria and her family!

Gram would have been 100 years old today! Unbelievable that we had someone in our family who was three and a half years away from making it to be a centenarian. I wish she would have been able to see the day. And I wish she would have told me her secret to life although after spending my entire life and five years living with her I have a pretty good guess at what her secret might have been.

Unlike many of us who are getting old, Gram seemed to be ageless. I feel like she looked the same at age 95 as she did when she was 62. Same white hair, same cute smile, same personality. She was ALWAYS smiling. She loved sitting outside with the sunshine on her face. She loved sitting in her recliner and looking out the window at the snow. She seemed to appreciate whatever it was that was thrown at her.

I remember Gram always dressing nice and doing her hair and putting rouge on her cheeks. She cared about what she looked like. But I don’t think she cared what other people thought of her if they had bad thoughts. She said what was on her mind (sometimes a little too loud!).

I do have to admit the last six months of her life we could see a decline. She was getting thinner and more frail. She was sleeping 16 hours a day. She was grumpier and the dementia seemed to have more of an impact on her. But all the same, she was my Gram and I loved her.

I love the advice Maria gives to us in the article. We need to enjoy nature and good company, avoid toxic people, have some luck, and hope for good genetics. I believe this is why Gram lived as long as he did. I believe Gram’s secret to life was her personality. She loved sitting outside, she didn’t put up with toxic people in her life, and she was happy and appreciative. She didn’t take much for granted. She was generous and concerned about the well-being of others. I admire her strength and her heart. She was my biggest inspiration. I mean who else would sit on a plant cart 🙂

Happy 100 years in Heaven, Gram! I hope you made a vanilla cream pie with a graham cracker crust (my favorite) and your delicious spaghetti and meatballs. Enjoy a beautiful family dinner with all of those up there filled with love, laughter, and memories. Until we meet again…

In Weekly Wednesday Words

A World

September 11, 2024 No Comments

We often go through life meeting different people at airports, on trains, at parties, or work. No matter how brief our meeting may be, that person may open a world in us we never knew existed. They may open our eyes to a new way of thinking, a different outlook on life or inspiration to be more.

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive.

~ Anaïs Nin

Photo by Christine Roy on Unsplash

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Great

September 4, 2024 No Comments

Whether it be in sports, your career, or your life, we seem to want to brag when we are good at something. But let’s stay humble and remember when we are great at something, people will tell us!

When you’re good at something, you’ll tell people. When you’re great at something, they’ll tell you.

~ Walter Payton

Photo by Mike Von on Unsplash

In Family

Getting Old

September 3, 2024 No Comments

My Rock and I were on a standby flight from Aruba to the United States. We were the last people on but the flight attendant gave us the perk of sitting in the front row with her as she had it saved because her seat belt was broken in the flight attendant jump seat. Across the way was an elderly man with what appeared to be his daughter and granddaughter. It made me think of getting old.

He walked with a cane and was slow moving. I can’t tell age but he seemed older or at least his body did. He went to use the restroom and when he returned you could tell he went. I felt terrible for him and for those of us around him.

But it reminded me of Gram who always said “starość to nie radość” which means “it’s hell getting old” in Polish. And wow isn’t it? Our bodies slow down, we don’t remember as much, we are sore and tired all the time, we get grumpy, and we lose control of some of our bodily functions. The little things we took for granted when we were younger are missed so much as we get older.

When we are kids we wish the time away and we can’t wait to be adults. Then at some point in adulthood, we wish time would slow down, and we wish we could go back to those youthful days when there was no fear, no anxiety, and no cracking when we got out of bed.

Even though I still have almost two years, the big 5-0 is coming soon! It’s crazy to think how old I thought 50 was as a kid. Now it’s so young. I feel like our friends are the same as they always have been. We are still going non-stop and in my mind, I feel like I can do anything now that I did 25 years ago. However, my body and the bulging disks in my neck tell me otherwise.

Anyway, back to the plane and getting old. My mind wandered to my father and others who didn’t have the chance to get old. His body was ravaged by cancer and the treatments but at 60 he was still so very young. I am glad that he didn’t have to go through the stages of old age but he barely got to go through the good old days of retirement because he was fighting cancer for nine years.

So then I have to ask myself, which way is better? Growing old and losing control of your body or dying young and not knowing what you’ve missed? Is it better to know a loved one is going to die as sometimes we do with disease or is it better to lose your loved one in a freak accident that you never saw coming?

I have decided it doesn’t matter. They both suck. Losing a loved one to cancer, disease, or an accident can be unbearable. There is always something you wanted to say. There is always something left undone. There is always a hole in your heart. It can’t be replaced, and you can do nothing to not feel the hurt.

Therefore, my friends, all we can do is support one another. No one’s grief is more or less than another’s. We all grieve in different ways and it all hurts no matter what. Let’s not compare our lives or our grief to others. Let’s help each other by lifting each other up as best we can. Let’s support each other and bring each other out of the dark places we can sometimes get ourselves into.

In Weekly Wednesday Words

Funny One

August 28, 2024 No Comments

I saw this quote and had to laugh out loud. How true it is! This quote is appropriate in many aspects of our lives, too. We judge other people by their actions not meeting our expectations. If we could just relax and be present in the moment then maybe we would experience less disappointment in our lives. Let’s enjoy the slow ride down the highway and the times with our friends and family. Instead of putting each other down let’s lift each other up.

“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?”

— George Carlin

Photo by Zhu Hongzhi on Unsplash