Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label optimism. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Forward Motion

I'm looking forward to 2012 more than any year I can remember in quite some time. I don't have any specific reasons which make me feel so optimistic about the upcoming year, but I'm not going to fight the feeling. I'm normally an overtly optimistic person but this goes beyond the normal for me.

It seems as though the past few years I couldn't wait to see the backside of a year and would be vocalizing about how the coming year just had to be better, but I don't have those feelings at all.....just the calm, peaceful feeling that no matter what happens next year, it will be stellar! All the tough lessons of the past 5 years and all the simplifying must be starting to pay off and I can barely contain my excitement.

Take that, Universe!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Giving Thanks

Most of my friends have been participating in 30 Days of Thanks by posting something each day for which they are thankful. I guess I'm not that dedicated because I always resort to one blog the week of Thanksgiving, or ON Thanksgiving, as is the case this year.


I have so many things for which I am thankful, I know I would never be able to remember and list them all, but this is my best effort to cover the highlights.


- I am thankful 2011 was better than 2010. I expect 2012 to follow the same pattern.
- I am thankful for a job I enjoy more than I ever could have imagined.
- I am thankful I am still able to live life simply.
- I am thankful for unconditional love.
- I am thankful for music which touches my soul and for the artists who create such beauty and choose to share it with the world.
- I am thankful for libraries and books which always transport me.
- I am thankful for my siblings and their love for me.
- I am thankful I have been allowed to be an auntie to the BEST nieces and nephews in the universe!
- I am thankful for my friends; old and new.
- I am thankful for the boring which balances out the crazy in my life.
- I am thankful for my seemingly eternal optimism.
- I am thankful for my sweet dog, Hildy Mae.
- I am thankful for tolerance which has been given and received.
- I am thankful for having options.

- I am thankful for YOU!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Finally...My First Blog of 2010

I'm not really sure how to explain my lack of blogging over the past few months. One would think it would be easier to blog with so much "free time" on my hands, but that's just not the case. I really am an optimistic person and I'm convinced I have an over abundance of serotonin. The over abundance makes it virtually impossible for me to experience depression...even the common depression most people call the "blues". Lately though, I'm wondering if my inability to blog might be my version of the "blues".

Of course, if that's the worst I feel when I've been unemployed for 4 and a half months and am on the verge of losing the grip I have on the last bit of semblance of my former life, you'll not hear me complain. But, then again, maybe my lack of blogging comes from one of the many wise lessons my very wise mother taught me......"Heather, if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

I know her words of wisdom are meant to keep one from saying mean and ugly things to another, but I feel it also helps one deal with difficult times in life if one chooses to filter all the bad things going on through this wise truth. Anyway, everyone knows I've always got some hair-brained theory bumping around in my noggin.....I guess this is just the latest.

Other things which have been on my mind are much weightier topics of which I'm unsure about being ready to discuss. Not because I don't want to share them yet, but rather, because I feel I need to do a bit more research to be as informed as I can before I possibly reveal my ignorance to the blogosphere. However, I don't mind throwing the subject matter out there so it can begin to marinate in one's mind as I begin to put my ducks in a row to write about these things.

Currently on my mind:

The homeless: How and where do they go to survive the bitter cold? Are some shelters more dangerous than others or are they all equally dangerous? How does one apply for jobs with no phone or address? Our attitude toward the homeless and unemployed: perception vs. reality.

Resources for single people with NO children: Why are there no government programs outside of unemployment for those who have chosen to be responsible and not get knocked up? Where do single people go when they have no where else to turn?

I know there are more topics which will probably come about once I delve into the research on these things, but for now, this is what I'll be working on. I've been hesitant to take on these topics as it might be hard to keep my optimistic approach given the subject matter, but as I'm an optimistic person and I'll be drawing on some of my own experiences, I think I'll be able to keep it on the optimistic side of things. I'm trying to boost awareness, not depress people.

I always welcome your comments and posts, but if you feel you have something to share and want to keep it between you and me, just send me a message.

Until the next blog.........grace and peace to you all.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Blah Blog?

I've been meaning to post for a few days, but just haven't been able to make myself. I don't want to write a post that is negative or sounds as if I'm wallowing but some of that can't be avoided. I'm trying so hard to maintain my optimism, but the simple truth is this: I feel really lousy....and I hate it, but please bear with this post because it won't be entirely depressing (I hope).

Three weeks ago I would have given my right arm for 2 weeks without having to go to work....the big difference is I don't have a job to return to and that, I'm finding, is very tough to handle. I never really thought that my self-worth and identity were so wrapped up in my job. I'm finding insecurities I never knew were there and I'm trying my best to learn to deal with those. For the most part, I do okay but there are times when it sneaks up, without any warning, and I find myself scraping bottom. Certainly not a place I'm used to being and not where I want to stay for any length of time.

My parents came yesterday and hauled my car back to their house for some major repairs. It was no easy thing for me to ask my parents for help, but at this point in my life, in these circumstances, I had no other options really and I'm so thankful that I have the kind of parents that will always be there for me. Unconditional love is an amazing thing.

As far as day-to-day life goes, the only thing that has remained constant from before losing my job is my rambling, 8-hour IM conversations with a friend. Without that, I may have really plunged into the depths and not returned to the surface because it's that 8-hour stretch, when everyone I know is working that really does a number on my head sometimes. But, this friend...he puts up with my moody ups and downs and remains a calming force in my life when everything else seems so unstable......and he does it just because we're friends, not because he knows I need that kind of an "anchor" at this particular moment in my life. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to repay him for the extreme kindness he has unintentionally shown me, but hopefully, one day, I'll have a chance to return the favor.

Well, I guess this could have been far more depressing, but I'm hoping it's my optimism and some of the kindest friends in the world keeping it to a minimum. I just have to hold on to my belief that nothing happens by accident........and maybe one day I'll understand this chapter in my life.

For now, I press on.