Identifying Unclaimed Emotional Baggage

Beth Vogtchange, choices, courage, freedom, Identity, Life, perspective 18 Comments

Being Brave Enough to Deal with Our Stuff by @bethvogt Last weekend one of my closest friends texted me this question: When does all the baggage stop bubbling to the surface? Her question is a bit of a mixed metaphor, yes, but still it brought to mind a vivid image: a murky lake filled with suitcases bobbing to the the …

The Danger of Believing Everything We Think

Beth Vogtchoices, confidence, perspective, Quotes, Thoughts 14 Comments

Why We Need to  “Mind Our Mind” by @bethvogt Mind your manners. Chances are, we’ve all said those words before. Maybe we’ve also been reminded to mind our manners. When we mind our manners, we’re taking extra care to be polite. To remember, as I would tell my kiddos when they were younger, to use their “nice words,” like please …

Understanding Estrangement

Beth Vogtbrokenness, family, perspective, Quotes, Relationships 43 Comments

A Few Truths I’ve Learned Living with Brokenness                                                                                                            …

In Others’ Words: Choosing Which Moments Define Us

Beth Vogtchoices, In Others' Words, perspective 15 Comments

Of Milestones and Moments @bethvogt At some point in our lives, we’ve all been cautioned not to make a mountain out of a molehill. Some well-meaning person thinks we’re overreacting to a situation – or maybe thinks we’re overreacting to them – and wants us to calm down. Maybe they’re right . Maybe we need to step back and take …

In Others’ Words: My One Word for 2019

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, One Word, perspective 19 Comments

  Let’s talk about choosing One Word for the coming year.  2019 is just over a month away, but if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, then you know that I gave up New Year’s resolutions thirteen years ago. All my good intentions — the “I wills” and the “I won’ts” — faded so quickly, and I always misplaced …

In Others’ Words: When We Give What We Have

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 6 Comments

I love to give gifts to family members and friends. The funny thing is, in the past, I often gave a gift and accompanied it with an apology. “If you don’t like it, you can exchange it.”  “If that’s not exactly what you wanted, there’s a gift receipt in there …” Oftentimes, the person hadn’t even seen what I’d given …

In Others’ Words: The Importance of Dreams

Beth Vogtdreams, In Others' Words, perspective, Uncategorized 4 Comments

Someone came up to me the other day and said, “I didn’t know you were an author!” I smiled and said, “Yes, I am.” Whenever someone says something like this to me, I pause and  remember I’m living my dream. This crazy, challenging, some-days-I’m-not-sure-I can-do-it career? It’s my childhood dream come true. And sometimes, I forget  it all started because …

In Others’ Words: The Secret to Living Well

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 8 Comments

My mother-in-law turns 100 years old tomorrow. Yes, you read that correctly: She will be One. Hundred. Years. Old. Her father was one of the last homesteaders in Montana. And she was born in a one-room log cabin — that her father built — during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. She rode a horse to school, which was also a one-room …

In Others’ Words: A Work in Progress

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 10 Comments

As I moved the graphic over into this blog post, two words stood out to me in the quote: in progress.  “In progress” means motion. Forward motion. We’re moving toward something — a goal. A dream. There’s action happening. When I was deciding on the graphic to use for the quote, I skimmed through lots of photos of staircases and …

In Others’ Words: Living More Richly in the Moments

Beth VogtIn Others' Words, perspective, Quotes 7 Comments

Stress is getting the best of me these days. We all experience times where we get overwhelmed and a bit frantic. Moments race by with things left undone and our frustrations mount. I don’t want to surrender to these kind of moments, as author Anne Morrow Lindbergh suggests in today’s quote. “If you let yourself be absorbed completely to the …