If Los Angeles airport (LAX) was the ultimate pass-fail test of my ability to remain calm in a stressful environment … I failed. I’d love to be able to take an impromptu poll and ask, “Have you ever been to LAX?” And by “been to,” I mean, have you ever had to go through security at LAX to get to your …
In Others’ Words: Trading If Only for Next Time
It’s amazing the difference two words can make. If only … two words that hold you back, trip you up with regret, refuse to let you begin again because you’re still caught up in something that’s over and done with. Next time … two words that say “go ahead, try again!” and promise there’s more to life than your mistakes …
In Others’ Words: The God of Beauty
For so many years I didn’t know what to do with that word — Beautiful. It didn’t apply to me, and yet I kept running into it and being reminded I wasn’t one of the beautiful girls. Not even close. Now why, you might wonder, would I think that? Pretty simple: I heard in blunt terms that I was ugly. NOTE: Please …
In Others’ Words: Learning and Changing
I was the kid who liked to go to school. The kid who never worried about report cards — well, except when it came to math class. The kid who thought learning was fun and who, to this day, still gets excited when school supplies go on sale. And yes, all my years in school changed me — elementary right …
In Others’ Words: A Wealth of Dreams
I’ve had this quote in the Draft section of my blog for several years. Yep. Years. Sometimes a quote strikes me in an “I like it” kind of way and when I try to write my thoughts about it, the words stutter to a stop on the page. I’ve got nothing. But I decided to pull this quote out of …
In Others’ Words: Are You Scared?
Fear likes to tell us no. No, you can’t (fill in the blank). No, you can’t learn to dance — you’re not coordinated enough. No, you can’t sing well enough to try out for school chorus. No, you can’t try out for that sports team. What makes you think you’re good enough to compete with those other kids? No, you …
In Others’ Words: Sing It Loud
Truth be told, I do most of my singing in the car, not the shower. One of my favorite memories of years gone by is driving around town doing errands and singing with my two daughters, Katie Beth and Amy. In the very early years we sang along to the radio or cassette tapes (yes, yes, we did!) and then …
In Others’ Words: Brokenhearted
So my daughter, CJ, has been doing the graphics for my quotes the past six weeks or so. I find the photos, I find the quotes … and she puts the two together for me in a creative way. She enjoys being creative and she’s good at it. And letting her combine the quote and the graphic frees up my …
In Others’ Words: Your Own Worst Enemy
I thought self-doubt was normal. You know what I mean? You grow up and along the way you realize you’re not perfect. Less than. Unworthy. Why? Because school teaches you that. And sometimes parents tell you that. Or friends. Or enemies. Or all of the above. And self-doubt arrives and takes up permanent residence in your head. Maybe you can’t. As …
In Others’ Words: Unexpected Setbacks
This is not the blog post I expected to write. Of course, things kind of spun out of my control yesterday. And there’s the truth of it: I made the mistake of thinking I had the day all under control, hemmed in, thanks to my all powerful To Do list. Yeah, that’ll do it. My plans for yesterday: write, write, …