@bethvogt A few weeks ago, I applied for long term health insurance. After all the ups and downs we’ve had with my mother-in-law’s care, my husband, Rob, and I want to do as much as we can to ease things in the future for our adult children. Last week, the company denied my application. Okay then. Then the real …
Choosing to Gain a Healthier Perspective on Change in Our Lives
@bethvogt I’m going through a time of transition. To be honest, I don’t like it. I typed those words and stopped, wondering when was the last time I wrote about my struggle with change. Searched my blog archives and found a blog post dated July 24, 2019. Yes, I had to shake my head and smile. I was dealing with …
The Fight Against Racism Starts Within Our Families
@bethvogt My son Josh and daughter-in-love Meagan stopped by our house on Monday. “How are you?” A simple enough question, right? Not these days. My son Josh is white. My daughter-in-love Meagan is black. Meagan backed away from me. From responding. “I don’t want to cry. I can’t cry … I won’t stop crying …” And then I held …
Choosing to be Present Today
I tossed several topics around for this blog post. Things like the Super Bowl halftime show or the president’s State of the Union address or how about the craziness of the Iowa caucus? Nah. I’m not about wading into controversy and ruffling feathers today. Instead, I came across these words by poet Maya Angelou: “Every day I awaken grateful. …
In Others’ Words: Thoughts on How to Keep Growing
Doing Better Than Your Best @bethvogt “I did the best I could.” I’ve never been a fan of those six words. Here’s how the conversation usually goes: I’m sitting across from someone who is recounting a struggle they faced where there was no resolution. No improvement. And then they sum up their efforts by saying, “I did the best I …
In Others’ Words: Time Requirement
Each of us is striving toward a different goal, but whatever we want to accomplish requires the same thing: skill, and effort, and time. Sometimes, more than anything else, the time required to reach our goals trips us up. We feel good about ourselves when we’re learning a skill. We feel good about effort of any kind. Pursuing a …
In Others’ Words: Taking the Time
To everything there is a season, right? But how many of us consider “now” the perfect season? We don’t want to wait. We want what we want right this minute because, of course, “now” is the best time, the right time, to have it. And yet, rushing things often ruins things. Let’s be honest: rushing things often ruins us. Can …
In Others’ Words: Who are You?
Honest relationships are the best … and honest relationships are hard to come by. I have to choose to completely trust someone before I open up to them and show them who I am — the good, bad, and the broken. And when I do that, I hope the other person respects what I’ve shared by believing me. I don’t want to …
In Others’ Words: Encountering Defeat
One of these days I’m going to catalogue my quotes and tally how many posts I’ve written that deal with facing — and overcomng — defeat. Quite a few, I’m thinking. Sometimes when I find a quote about overcoming defeat and then I blog about it, I’m writing myself out of a funk. And then there are times I’m …
In Others’ Words: Maya Angelou and the wonder of today
I so often look at Friday as the end of the week — Thank God it’s Friday! — I forget that it’s a new day all in it’s own right. A wonderful day, as Maya Angelou said on May 17, 2013. I’m still adjusting to the reality that we’ve lost her voice, her insights, her courage. Today, I wanted …