Hero in my Book
Both Walter Lewis and Rock the dog, are hero’s in my book. Walter woke up to get a drink of water, and noticed his bulldog was barking downstairs. He was running up and down the stairs, and apparently the dog never went upstairs.
He went downstairs to investigate and discovered the house was on fire on the first floor. Waking up his family, he got them out onto the roof. Calling for help, he finally got the courage to jump off the roof and get a ladder to help save his family.
My son inlaw has a fear of heights and I have seen him break out in a sweat just thinking about it. Facing a phobia is a hard thing to do. Thank goodness he was able to rescue the family. Tragically the dog didn’t make it out.
Like most everyday hero’s he doesn’t think that he is one. “That’s a big word to use for me when I’m not a hero. I’m just an ordinary person that would help anybody, but this happened to be the time when I helped my own family. I live to protect my family, and that’s what matters. Just like Rock, he lived to protect us.”
Lemonade Maker Debbie Allen
Debbie Allen is a LemonadeMaker. Like many other LemonadeMakers, she created a foundation called “Shelby’s Rules”, after her daughter died. She is working hard to educate teens of the dangers of alcohol poisoning, to prevent other families from losing their children to it. If the other girls with her had called for help, her death could have been avoided. They didn’t realize the seriousness of what was happening with Shelby, and thought she just needed to sleep it off.
Shelby Lyn Allen was a 17 year-old 11th grade student. On the first night of Christmas break in 2008, Shelby and her friends started drinking. Shelby became violently ill and was semi-conscious when her friends left her propped up over the toilet. When she was discovered the next morning, she could not be revived.
In the aftermath of this tragedy, Debbie began asking questions. Talking with other teens, she realized that most of them had no clue that drinking just a few too many swallows of an 80 proof alcohol, like vodka, can kill you. As unfair as this seems, if you are a girl, your risk is increased by variables such as fluctuating hormone levels and smallness of frame.
Debbie also realized that most adults have no clue about the dangers of alcohol poisoning. Everyone knows that excessive drinking can make you sick (praying to the porcelain god) or have you make a fool of yourself (dancing on the table). Maybe you will even suffer a nasty hangover. But letting a friend “sleep it off” can easily turn into them falling into a deadly coma or vomiting in their sleep, and choking to death.
Once alcohol poisoning has begun the only effective treatment is to get the poisoned person to a hospital emergency room, provide breathing assistance as needed and provide IV therapy (nutrients). Most importantly, this care must be provided immediately to be effective and because of the possibility of brain damage every minute counts. Alcohol poisoning causes the brain to shut down vital organ processes, including breathing. If your breathing stops, your heart stops, you die. By all accounts, if breathing is assisted by intubation (breathing tube) the body will rid itself of alcohol and you will survive.
Shelby’s untimely and ultimately preventable death has devastated Debbie’s family. Shelby made poor choices that night, but those choices should never have led to her death. It is the hard truth that despite our best efforts to protect them, in the end our teenagers safety, their very lives can come down to other young people knowing when and how to ask for help.
If you have teenagers, please get this film to help your teens understand the dangers of binge drinking. “The Unconcious Truth” is now available on DVD and at tyla.org. Contact TYLA at 800-204-222 ext. 1529 to request a copy. This is a film that highlights the dangers of teen binge drinking – perfect to incorporate into high school and community alcohol education programs!
Martin Luther King Jr.
There are so many good quotes for Martin Luther King Jr. His most famous speech, “I have a dream” is full of lessons for us all. I thought about Martin Luther King Jr. a lot the past few days. What would he give a speech to us about today, if he were still alive?
The world is so full of injustice that it is like chains weighing us down. It is like that scene in Sleeping Beauty, where you are chopping down the vines that cover the castle and they regrow faster than you can chop them down. Wage inequality just gets worse every year. Men and women still are not paid the same wage for the same job. We see how terrorism is changing the face of racism, making us afraid of others based on not only their skin color, but their culture and religion. The war against drugs is never ending as drugs continue claim the lives of our young people every day. Lack of access to healthcare continues to be a major problem. I could go on to spit out depressing facts and figures as well as continue the list of things wrong in our world. But I won’t.
One of my favorite MLK quotes is “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” I think that this quote would be a big part of his speech for us today. “What are you doing for others?” Because at the end of the day, it isn’t some governments policy, law, or program that is going to change our world. It is each of us individually standing up and stating, “I am going to change me”. And as each of us, “changes me”, we will inspire others to do the same for themselves. And individual by individual, the world will change.
What will make this transformation possible is love, forgiveness and lifting each other up. It is the realization that now is the time to do what is right. To teach our children critical thinking, because that is what is needed to lead us forward. To understand all holy scriptures fundamental teaching is that only light can drive out the darkness. All of these thoughts come from other MLK quotes.
If we all started out today, and every day going forward with these kinds of thoughts creating actions of change, the world would change overnight. This reminded me of the Berlin Wall falling down. It seemed to happen overnight, but it was actually the work of many over time. It was small actions that lead to the wall falling down.
The goal should be not to just think about these things one day a year, but rather to think about them daily. Because action goes where our attention is focused. And action is the only way to implement real lasting change upon ourselves.
A last quote “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” We can be disappointed that even though some progress has been made, it hasn’t happened yet,. Just don’t lose hope that if we all keep walking together hand in hand, that it will happen.
Facebook Story
Great post on FB – really highlights it is all about the attitude that you bring – not what is actually happening. We make the story about what is happening “to us.”
Quoted directly from her FB post:
Sarah Owen Bigler Indianapolis, Indiana · January 13 at 5:21am ·
Yesterday Matt was sick. I picked up Archie from the sitter and Eloise from school and decided to run to Target for a few things. I had hoped to be in and out quickly.
I found a line with just one person ahead of me and began organizing my items on the conveyor. After placing my items, I look up to see that the person ahead of me was an elderly woman. She was paying for her items with change and wanted to purchase each separately. Part of me, the part that had a long day at work, the part of me who had a 1 1/2 year old having a melt down in the cart, the part that had set an unnecessary timeline for Target and getting home, was frustrated with this woman and the inconvenience she had placed on me.
BUT then I watched the young employee with this woman. I watched him help her count her change, ever so tenderly taking it from her shaking hands. I listened to him repeatedly saying “yes, mam” to her. When she asked if she had enough to buy a reusable bag, he told her she did and went two lines over to get one for her and then repackaged her items. Never once did this employee huff, gruff or roll his eyes. He was nothing but patient and kind.
As I was watching him, I saw that Eloise was too. She was standing next to the woman, watching the employee count the change. I realized I hadn’t been inconvenienced at all. That my daughter was instead witnessing kindness and patience and being taught this valuable lesson by a complete stranger; furthermore, I realized that I too needed a refresher on this lesson.
When the woman was finished, the employee began ringing up my items and thanked me for my patience. I then thanked him for teaching us patience and kindness by his treatment of that elderly woman. And although my timeline for target was askew, when he was finished I pushed my cart through the store trying to find the manager. I wanted her to know of the employee’s, kindness and patience, and how much it meant to me. After tracking her down and sharing the story with her, we left Target with a cart full of consumable items, but what is more a heart full of gratitude for such an invaluable lesson.
If you are ever in the Glendale Target, give Ishmael a smile and a nod. The world could use more people like him.”
Amen!
Rescued Dog
Great story about firefighters rescuing the dog – or at least trying to.
As the video reflected the puppy was scared and kept trying to bite them. But happily he finally figured out they were trying to save him and as he started climbing out they were able to support his hind legs so he could get all of the way out of the icy water.
One scared, freezing puppy was returned to his owners.
Alan Rickman
A tribute to Alan Rickman who died at the age of 69 from cancer. He was one of my favorite bad guys.
I first loved him in Die Hard and Robin Hood, “call off Christmas” was one of my favorite lines. The Harry Potter series was truly wonderful. He had vey complex character and taking all of the scenes on chronical order makes his character come alive in way that wasn’t apparent in the movies. It is a little long, 14 minutes, but a pleasure to watch.
This is an awesome example of how what happens to us as children gets played out in our adult lives. It shows us that no matter what bad choices and mistakes we make, we can always make a different, better choice. It also shows us, how often we misunderstand people who have deep pain in their lives as being just a bad person. The reality it they are usually the ones looking desperately for love, and how they push it away as though they are undeserving of it.
R.I.P Professor.
Being Wise
Being wise beyond our fears, means recognizing that the true directions of the heart, require no words. There is simply a knowing inside. It just feels better, when we go in the direction of the heart. When you make the decision based on the hearts guidance, you feel the weight of the decision slide off your shoulders. There is no second guessing. When you say the words that only your soul has dared to whisper to the heart, that is when miracles happen. The declaration, both verbal and written gives notice to the divine that you are listening. Listen to your dreams. When your world is too filled with noise, that may be the only way that you souls whisper can be heard by the heart. John St. Augustine said, “Let your heart be your guide on all things, but you have to listen closely because it speaks so softly.” Each whisper of the soul to your heart speaks of the next leg of your journey. There are times on your journey when experience and reason tell you not to follow that path. Your mind sees the risks and wants to play it safe. But you have to give it a try. When you don’t listen to the whispers of the soul to your heart, sooner or later, that whisper turns into a scream. When the whisper has turned to screaming in desperation, it is usually a sign that your life is about to shift into some sort of test. This comes about because instead of listening to your own heart, you are playing it safe. It is so easy to become focused on others instead of ourselves. We get pushed and pulled in all directions by our work, our friends and our families. When those that we are surrounded by see us listening to our heart, they get scared. Changes that you make in your life, will impact theirs. They are afraid of many things, but primarily that you may out grown them. That you will leave them behind. Don’t let their fears break your soul. They may try to expose what is wrong with you, in an attempt to stop you from listening to the heart. God has put into our hearts intuition to guide us to what we need. Follow that guidance. When you do, you will know it because your heart will be at peace. Even the most painful and difficult decisions are correct, if the heart is at peace with it. Be wise beyond your fears and keep heading towards your glorious destiny.
What Lies Ahead on the Path of Life is Never Completely Clear
“As with a heavy fog on a road, what lies ahead on the path of life is never completely clear, but the choices we make can help shape out the shadows” Bryson Staley Years ago when I was a little girl we lived in Long Beach, CA. My mother worked at a nightclub as a bartender. One night (about 2:00 AM) when she got off work, the fog was really bad. The police were on the radio asking people to stay home, and not drive in the fog. My mother thought she could make it home. When she started driving it was worse than she thought, and she couldn’t even tell where the road was. She saw taillights in front of her and thought that if she just followed them she would stay on the road, and she could make it home. After driving for a while and making some turns, the car in front of her stopped. The man driving got out of his car, and walked back to my mom’s car and knocked on the drivers side window. “lady” he said, “you are in my garage.” Needless to say, he helped her park her car and called a taxi for her. It is a funny story, but there is a life lesson for us in this story. We are all trying to find our way home. Home is where our purpose is, deep inside of us. It can feel like we are peering through deep, dense, fog and can see nothing that looks like our purpose. So we tell ourselves that we don’t know how to find our way home. We think that what we need, is to find an expert to show us the way home. The problem that can arise when we are trying to find home, is that we abdicate the process to someone else. We follow them to their home. It could be a spiritual leader or guru. It could be our parents, spouse or someone else that we really look up to. But even with the best intentions on their part, their home is not our home. It is like the singer or writer, who starts out copying someone else that they look up to and admire. We may become proficient but there is something in the sound of our own voice, in that our soul sings through us. When we are copying someone else, the image isn’t clear, it becomes pixelated, a poor copy. When we find our own voice, it makes all the difference. That is when the star is born. When we wander in the fog lost, it is not necessarily a bad thing. We can learn a lot about ourselves as we wander. We will have adventures, learn new things, make new friends. We will also have some losses and misadventures. But at the end of the journey, if we persevere, we will find our way home. Things like maps, road signs, a GPS can be helpful.. But we must take the time to learn to read and use them correctly. We need to make sure that we are taking the time to listen to our heart. It sends out signals. It gives us directions. We can ask for help, but we don’t want to follow others to their home. I think that what has helped me the most in my own personal journey the last few years, is that I have attended a lot of workshops/seminars. I have hired coaches to help me learn what I couldn’t figure out by myself. What a good coach does, is hold up the mirror to face me, and ask me really good questions to help me see what I am blind to. They give me food for thought, so I can determine for myself if this or that answer makes more sense. They are like fog lights on the car. Have you ever used them? Driving headlights reflect off the fog and create glare, so that you can’t see. Fog lights have a unique beam shape and they cut through the fog so that you can see. There are times in our lives when we operate from driving headlights and just create a glare that we can’t see past. We need a coach or someone in our lives that are like the fog lights, they can see what we can’t and help us to see it for ourselves. “Beyond the fog lies clarity” – Anonymous
If you want to soar in life, you must first love yourself
If you want to soar in life, you must first love yourself.
“You have to love yourself because no amount of love from others is sufficient to fill the yearning that your soul requires from you” – Dodinsky
So many of you have put the cart before the horse when it comes to love. You spend all of your time “earning” the love of others by being who they want you to be. By doing everything in your power to make their life perfect. You put others ahead of yourself and at the end of the day, nothing turns out the way you wanted it to. You are left feeling like a failure, just “not good enough”.
There is a show on PBS called “Home Fires”. It takes place in England during WWII. It’s about a women’s group that contributes to the village and the war effort. In the first season there is one woman whose husband abuses her. Like all abusers he makes every time he loses his temper to be her fault. The real issue at hand for the story line is that he is a newspaper writer who can’t get enough work, so of course he takes it out on someone he is supposed to love.
A few of her best friends figure out what is happening, but at the point in history there really isn’t anything they can do about it. She is too ashamed to admit what is happening. The times that she struggles to fight back, he leaves her self-worth in even more tatters. At the end of the first season, one of her friends was successful in getting him a war correspondent job without him being aware of her having a hand in it.
He leaves the village to go to the front, and now his wife has the opportunity to start loving herself and building up her self-esteem. The hope being that she doesn’t fall back into the same situation when he returns. One of the underlying contributors of why women stay in abusive situations is that they don’t love themselves enough to gather up what remains of their self-worth and self-trust, to leave and not look back.
“Love yourself enough to take the actions required for your happiness. Love yourself enough to cut yourself loose from the ties of the drama filled past. Love yourself enough to move on” – Dr. Steve Maraboli
You may not be in such an extreme situation with your self-love, but you only have to listen to the comments you make to yourself, to know that it is something you can still do more work on.
When you live your life in such a way that reflects, you’re coming in last, you buy into a lie. A lie that loving yourself first will take away from loving others. A lie that says the only way to be worthy of self-love, is to prove that others love you first. How could you attract the love of others, if you don’t even love yourself?
Trying to in essence purchase the love of others by the self sacrifice of yourself, is like trying to fit the square peg in the round hole. You can push it, twist it, and pound the peg until it shatters, but it will never fit. It won’t fill that yearning from your soul, that begs you to put “love us” first.
5 Things to Quit – right now.
- Trying to please everyone
- Fearing Change
- Living in the past
- Putting yourself down
- Overthinking
You have the power to choose where you are going. You have the power to stop trying to get attention from those who hurt you most. You have the power to stop hating your body, your personality, and the pieces of you that don’t fit in the square hole.
You can start with loving yourself, saying “I love my thighs just as they are”, “I love my imperfect smile”, “I love that I snort when I laugh”, “I love me”. You can get the truth of the situation into your bones – nobody will ever love you more than you love yourself.
It is critically important to your health and happiness – both physical and mental – that you treat yourself right.
What if for the rest of this year you devoted yourself to loving you more? Your choices will change your life.
Make peace with your mirror and watch your reflection change. The loss of judgment in your eyes. The removing of the wrinkles of anxiety across the forehead, that you aren’t good enough. The curve of the smile of self-confidence, that says you are amazing, and you are rocking that outfit. The glow of inner peace and love that fills your space with light. And – LOL – Best hair day EVER!
Zulily
Kelly Kinkel took to social media to tell the world about a recent return she tried to make with the online retailer Zulily. Here is her story – makes me want to try them out.
Kelly says, “I sincerely hope this post goes viral, because I just hung up from one of the best customer service experiences of my life. I ordered a winter coat from Zulily a few weeks ago.” Looking at her account it is now at 65,861 likes and 37,261 shares.
Continuing the story, “When I received my order, I could see through the packaging that the coat material wasn’t going to work well with the two breeds of dogs we have. Coarse dog hair and certain materials don’t mix.”
“I called customer service and asked how to return the unopened coat for a refund. I spoke with a sweet young man named Patrick, and he let me know he would refund my money immediately. I asked again how to send it back, and he said, “Please don’t send it back. If you know someone who needs a winter coat or if you would like to donate it to a charity, that would make us very happy.”
“I honestly thought he was kidding. It took me a moment to realize he was completely serious, and then came the tears. I just don’t know other companies that do this, do you? I thought Zulily was pretty incredible before, but after today, I’m a customer for LIFE. The world needs more LOVE like that. Honest business. Honest ethics. How refreshing!”
See More: Customer tries to return coat, store’s response goes viral
Stand Tall
Life can be frigid cold and it tries to freeze you out. Refuse to succumb. Stand tall in your frozen glory, for in due time Spring will be here. Crisis is like the coldest winter day. The biting truth covers you in ice and threatens to freeze everything. Hold on, like the seasons shift and wane, so too does crisis.
A Night to Shine
Calling it “A night to shine” Tim Tebow and his foundation are organizing hundreds of proms throughout the world for people with disabilities. Last year his foundation helped plan 44 proms in 26 states and this year they are going all out to beat that record.
According to People magazine, the SEC Network analyst and former NFL quarterback has already confirmed 200-plus proms in 48 states and eight different countries for people with special needs in 2016.
“Every time I think about it, I’m so humbled and amazed by the way God has continued to grow ‘Night to Shine,'” Tebow told People. “I can’t wait for February 12th; it’s my favorite night of the year.”
This is the kind of news that we should be celebrating. We should be rewarding those who use their fame and fortune to make the world a better place, instead of giving news coverage to those that take advantage of it with bad behavior.
See More: Tim Tebow Organizing Over 200 Proms For People With Special Needs