Do I wait for others tell me who I am? Or do I know who I am, both my strengths and my weaknesses? There are days I struggle with myself, my confidence facedown in the dirt. Funny story: I remember the day I thought: Where do I get off thinking I could ever write a book? — and …
In Others’ Words: Releasing Fear
You know how someone says something and their words just reverberate in your mind and heart for days afterward? That’s what happened to me this past Saturday when I attended a local writer’s group. Author (and friend) Cara Putman spoke to the group via Skype and early on she said, “Let go of the fear of being wrong.” Cara said …
In Others’ Words: The End and the Beginning
If we can search and find the beginning hidden in the ending … well then, the ending isn’t quite so painful. I’m facing an ending right now — an “everything is finished” kind of moment. God was gracious enough to give me a head’s up about it months ago, so I wasn’t caught off guard by it. But still, there …
In Others’ Words: First Step, Last Step
Starting something and finishing something … I have to agree with today’s quote that those two steps can often be quite challenging. Yes, the first step can be exciting, enticing even. The thought of embarking on a dream, pursuing your passion, is exhilarating at first — during the pondering stage. But then comes the moment when pondering must become doing. …
In Others’ Words: Advise Me, Advise Me Not
It’s easier to give advice than it is to take advice, isn’t it? And then again, whether we take advice at all is often dependent on who is offering us their wisdom, right? Remember that T.V. ad that said, “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen?” As I recall, a room filled with people would fall silent and everyone would lean …
In Others’ Words: The Courage of Dreamers
I just got back from a bit of vacation in California and, yes, I spent some time in Disneyland. It amazed me how everyone embraced the “happiest place on earth” mentality, donning all versions of “ears”: traditional Mickey and Minnie ones Star Wars ones Princess ones — think Ariel, Cinderella, Snow White … pick a princess, any princess … Bride and …
In Others’ Words: The God of Hope
My understanding of God has changed through the years, but one thing hasn’t changed: I know that God is a God of hope. Do I get discouraged at times? Yes. Do I struggle against God’s plan — sometimes when it’s clear and sometimes when it’s not? Yes. Do I sometimes call myself “Oh-me-of-little-faith”? Yes. But all that stuff about me …
In Others Words: The Art of Learning
Most everyone would agree that Michelangelo was a creative genius, the artisan who sculpted the Pietà and David before he was 30, and who also painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. But I never realized Michelangelo considered himself a learner. When you consider someone as talented … no, as gifted as Michelangelo, you assume the man knows what he’s doing, right? He must have …
In Others’ Words: In Praise of Others
My mother taught me how to compliment people. Not the “how to” so much as the “why.” I remember running errands with her when I was a young girl. Usually one of the errands was a stop at the grocery store. My mom always found a way to say something nice to the cashier or to someone else as we passed them …
In Others’ Words: Burying Yourself Alive
How would you define self-pity? We’ve all heard the quote about how harboring unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting the other person — the person we can’t forgive — to die. But what about self-pity — an overwhelming focus on your troubles? Sometimes self-pity blares like a megaphone, but sometimes we learn to muffle the “woe-is-mes,” to make them …