Happy 21st Birthday, Felicia!

Happy birthday to D's niece!  It never ceases to amaze me how fast she grew up before our very eyes.  I have known her for most of her life.  She's a beautiful young woman with a heart of gold.  We are very proud of her!

I'M BACK!

As the title of my post indicates, I'm back!  I've been gone for a long time.  After Mom's passing last year, I did not--could not--find the desire to write.  It seemed futile.  I have had too much on my plate to think about writing.  Now, we're nearing the close of 2012 and approaching a new year:  2013.  In view of 2011 and 2012, I wonder what 2013 will bring.  Many are biting their nails thinking about the number 13, but I have never been the superstitious sort.  I think the year--any year--will be what you make of it.  

We often blame circumstances for our place in life rather than looking at the one thing we can control no matter the circumstances.  Think about the song "Hotel California" by the Eagles for a minute.  There is a line in the song that goes “You can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."  People "check out" of life when they stop having a passion for life and put their lives on “automatic pilot.”  They have “checked out” but still function waiting for the next event or the next day.  I am reminded of how my colleague put it.  When she was referring to her life, she said:  "I'm only existing, not living." The unfortunate thing and also the wonderful hope is we can check back in!  

Remember Victor Frankl!  Who is Victor Frankl?  Frankl is the famed psychiatrist who wrote an inspirational book, "Man’s Search for Meaning.” Frankl was a prisoner in the Nazi concentration camps. He had been separated from his family with little hope of ever seeing them again.  The conditions brought him near death and he saw those around him marched to the gas chambers. What drove him to survive?  In Frankl’s situation, he had a burning desire to do two things:  be reunited with his family and to disprove a theory by Sigmund Freud. Freud theorized that if you strip away everything that makes us human--our identity, family, our hope--we will revert to an animalistic state.  Frankl refused to believe this theory.  He believed that there was a power within each person to want to help and make a difference and he saw it throughout the camps.  The most powerful statement in the book was:  “When everything is taken away from us, the one thing we can control is our attitude in any given circumstance.”

So what is “the one thing” you need?  It is your ability to choose how you will react to the failures and difficulties in life.  You can blame them on others, on luck, or destiny but in truth it really does not matter.  You can control the outcome by never “checking out.”  If you were passed over for a promotion, demoted, divorced or faced uncontrollable circumstances, you still had the ability to believe in your own future and to be the architect of your own life.  Remember, you are the master of your fate through taking responsibility for your life and working to be the best!

The new year is almost here.  Resolve to make it the best year yet.  

With the new year, there is always a new baby.   Take a look at the latest addition to our family!