Friday, May 10, 2013

Gentle reminders

I love life lessons that are wrapped in gentle subtleness.  I've been blessed to receive a few such gifts lately; for me, they have been very profound and quite timely.

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A few weeks ago, I was visiting our youngest daughter, her husband and their two kids (my two youngest heart captors, otherwise known as grandbabies).  Allow me to share a couple of incidents that happened that have affected me on a deeply personal level.

One day, Little Miss was running around the carport.  She's 3.5 years old; that's what she does.  She's a very agile, nimble and an incredibly active little girl.  Quite vivacious.  Absolutely loves life.  Suddenly, Little Miss tripped on a garden hose and fell.  Hard.  She fell hard. VERY hard.  Face-first onto the concrete (thankfully, her face didn't make impact; she caught herself before that happened).  My heart skipped a beat or two, and I immediately started towards her.  About a foot away from being able to reach her, this amazing little girl pushed herself up (into an actual push-up).  With pain being so evident from her facial expression, she then shook her head as if to say, "Pain, pain go away; I don't have time for you today".  She had some scraped knees and palms of hands.  She also had the breathe knocked out of her.  When I asked her if she was ok, she allowed me to pick her up and kiss her; and then she said, "Yes, Sharmie; I'm ok."  After we hugged and I put her down, she resumed her running adventure.  I also noticed that this time, she made sure not to run near the garden hose.

I was reminded of two valuable lessons from Little Miss that day.
(1) When you get knocked down, shake it off and go on with your life.
(2) Learn from your mistakes.

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On another day during my visit, the kids were playing in mud.  Yep.  Mud.  They're country babies, doncha know.  :)

Bruiser Charmer Boy (who is 2) decided he needed to make more mud for his adventures.  He had a toy in the shape of boat (minus any sails).   It was the most perfect thing for transporting water!  He would toddle over to the dogs' bowl (big, honkin' huge thing - big honkin' huge dogs, also), dip his boat in and fill it up with water.  Then, he'd toddle back to his mud pit and dump the water.  The whole aventure, took probably took about 2 minutes, round trip.

He's 2 years old (and barely, at that), and he's still learning so many things (hopefully he'll continue to learn throughout his entire life).  He's extremely smart and very observant; but, give the boy a break - he's only 2!  One of the things he's still trying to master is how to hold things properly; in this specific case, how to hold a toy boat full of water so that by the time he gets back to his mud pit, he has more than just a drop or two remaining.  It was so cute to watch.  He'd get to the mud pit, turn his boat over to release the water; and instead of a couple of cups of water pouring out, only a small drizzle would make its appearance.   Did that deter him any?  Absolutely not!   I sat there for quite a while immersed in watching him make trip after trip after trip AFTER trip - all the while smiling and giggling (truth be known, both of us were doing the smiling and giggling).  At one point in all of this, his mother did try to show him how to hold the boat.  He tried; he truly tried.  But, perhaps, he needs just a bit more life under his belt before he fully understands that particular concept.

My lessons that I was reminded of while watching him:
(1) Little by little; each step toward your goal is progress.
(2) Don't give up; keep going . . . and SMILE!

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Last, but certainly not least, there are several friends in my little corner of Facebook Land that have started new businesses recently (as recently as within the past few days to within the past few years).  Some of them are consultant type businesses for various home-party companies; some of them are craft-related, wherein they are making and selling the very wares that they peddle.  Some of my friends are immersed in various service and/or educational type businesses, while some others are writers (books, professional blogs, etc.).  Also, while not self-employed, some people are full-out pursuing their passions via their chosen careers.  The ages of such illustrious friends range from 21 years to 70+ years.  I like that.  I like that I have such an eclectic variety of friends.  Now, truth be known, and between you and me, my friend who is in her 70s, while definitely self-employed, has had her own business for a little over a decade now; but I still wanted to include her, here, - I've learned a lot from her while watching her run her business.

I love cheering people on and giving them encouragement regarding following their dreams and achieving their goals (or about other things as well; but I'm trying to stick to the topic, doncha know).  I love to hear (or read) about their victories; it's exciting and it's encouraging.  It's also very motivating.

I also appreciate knowing when my friends are needing a little extra support from their cheering section (of which I like to think I'm part of those groups).  Let's face it - pursuing one's goals; regardless of what such illustrious goals are - can be quite daunting at times.  It takes grit to keep at it sometimes.  It also takes a proper perspective . . . the gloomy gusses of the world rarely suceed in what it is they want to accomplish.  Please understand, there is a great difference between looking at things realistically and working through the downfalls, versus complaining about every little thing and having a defeatist attitude right out of the gate.  To my gloomy friends, my true encouragement to you, my heartfelt prayer for you is for you to change your mindset.  Develop joy and gratitude!  If you're working on this but are not quite there, keep plugging along.  If you haven't tried this approach, please consider doing so.  There is always something for which a person can be grateful; and that very attitude of gratitude, along with true joy, will shield you in the tough times and carry you places that otherwsie would not be possible.

I love that I can learn from people (when I truly want to and when I get ME out of the way).  I'm over-the-moon overjoyed that my sweet, precious grandbabies can teach me things just by being exactly who they are.

I love that I can learn from friends and other loved ones by "watching" their progress via Facebook. 

I think of my 21-year old friend over on FB; and I'm humbled by her stick-to-it-tiveness regarding her new business.  She amazes me; a young mother of a young baby, whose husband's career takes him away from home for a couple of weeks at a time.  Yet, she is plugging along and really making a success of her business.  Wow! 

I am also reminded of a friend of mine who is pursuing her chosen career full force; in spite of the undeserved roadblocks that have been placed in her path; such roadblocks being created by people who don't want her to suceed because she doesn't fit the "mold" of someone in that particular career.  She pushes through the painful experiences and still goes after her goal.  I find that extremely inspiring.  I have a lot of respect for her.

There are so many of y'all that touch the core of who I am and gives me pause to look at what y'all are doing - even in the midst of the individual adversities that each of y'all encounter.  I'm speaking of y'all, regardless as to whether or not your goal is a business/carreer goal or simply another type of goal.

I thank y'all deeply.  And, I want to encourage y'all to keep doing what you're doing . . . I'll be here cheering y'all on and being proud of your accomplishments.

Thanks for reading, y'all!
Here's to each of y'all's goals, dreams and passions!

Y'all be blessed,
Sharmie

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