Friday, 29 January 2016

Chosen

If you want to be one of the chosen, 
all you have to do is choose yourself.  
- Author Unknown 

Wednesday, 27 January 2016

Quieter

The secret is not to make your music louder,
 but to make the world quieter. 
 - Mitch Albom 

Monday, 25 January 2016

Heart

There is a reason you glance up 
when you first hear a melody, 
or tap your foot to the sound of a drum. 
 All humans are musical.  
Why else would the Lord
 give you a beating heart.? 
 - Mitch Albom 

Friday, 22 January 2016

Best

Sometimes the “right” way to do something 
may not be the best way to do it.
 - Amish proverb  

Wednesday, 20 January 2016

Dust

You spend your whole life
 cleaning and fighting dust,
 and then they bury you in it.
 - Author Unknown 

Monday, 18 January 2016

Self-Serving

It might be self-serving to do what you enjoy, 
but it isn't selfish. 
 - Shaa Wasmund 

Friday, 15 January 2016

January 15, 2016 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   How many choices have you made thus far today?

   How many of those choices were actually your own?

  From the time we are born, others make choices for us.  And, when we are too young, it is necessary for them to do so for our safety and survival.

   Then, we enter school and people still make choices for us.  They do so with the best of intentions as they strive to guide and teach us, leading us to choose the best career path by graduation.

   After school, we enter the workforce and others continue to make choices for us as they tell us what is required of us to provide the best returns to our bosses or customers.

   We participate in volunteer activities and join clubs, where others make choices for us based on the nature of the activities we are involved in.

   As we age, others make choices for us based on our medical needs or care requirements.

    My question is...when do we do we give ourselves permission to start making our own choices?

    When we are young, we don't know enough to make the best choices for ourselves so we let others choose.  It isn’t wrong, however, no matter how well-meaning, others don’t live in our bodies, or see the world through our eyes, or react to experiences the way we do.  Even identical twins don’t experience life exactly the same.   

   At some point, the only way we can live our lives, being totally true to ourselves, is to make our own choices.  Choices based on how WE feel about what is going on around us, not how others have told us we should choose or based on others’ fears.

   That doesn’t automatically mean that all our choices will be perfect, yet, they will be healthier than trying to follow someone else’s path.

   You know you have made the right decision when there is peace in your heart...and your gut. - Shaa Wasmund 

 Beth

 Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1c9gVdt7mWIyahCxrDK393pZ_PIriiy91/view?usp=sharing

 Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua

Wednesday, 13 January 2016

Complications

Sometimes we get caught up
 in complications of our own making, 
while the simplest, most obvious
 and most effective choice 
is staring us right in the face. 
 You know you have made the right decision 
when there is peace in your heart...and your gut. 
 - Shaa Wasmund 

Monday, 11 January 2016

True

What is truer than Truth? 
 A story. 
 - Jewish proverb  

Friday, 8 January 2016

Defer

Our happiness is high in our youth,
 starts to trail off by the time 
we are just twenty-five and 
doesn't pick up again until we retire...
our happiest times are when our lives are simplest, 
and the pressures of expectation from 
work and family commitments are their lowest. 
 That leaves forty years in between – 
the period when we are considered to be 
in our mental and physical prime,
 but during which too many of us settle for 
being 'crazy busy' and just moderately happy...
Do we really want to defer 
living life at its best until we retire? 
 - Shaa Wasmund 

Wednesday, 6 January 2016

Today

If you wish to be happy, we'll tell you the way;
 don't live tomorrow till you've lived today.
 - Amish proverb  

Monday, 4 January 2016

Arithmatic

May our lives be like arithmetic: 
friends added, enemies subtracted, 
sorrows divided, joys multiplied. 
- Amish proverb

Friday, 1 January 2016

January 1, 2016 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   A good friend of mine, who owns his own business, once told me that he found it difficult to make the cold calls necessary to keep his business going.  That really surprised me because 1. he’s very personable and outgoing, and 2. cold calls are one of the easiest things in the world for me to do.  (Must be because of all those years selling Girl Guide cookies door-to-door in Mirror and having doors slammed in our faces).

   And that is what it really boils down to...what's the absolute worst thing someone will say to you if you ask them something? 

   No!  

   So what?  They said “no,” so go on to the next one. 

   There are countless reasons why someone will tell you “no” - bad timing, bad day, not enough information, lack of resources, lack of interest, not authorized to make decisions, etc.  

   No matter why they say it, remember that it usually is a good thing, no matter how strong your emotional reaction may end up being. 

   If it was truly meant to be, you'd have gotten a “yes.”  

   If you don’t believe me, just think of a time when you tried to force someone to say “yes” to you.  Bet it ended up creating more trouble and headaches than if you’d just accepted their “no” and moved on?

   Now, that doesn't mean you can't try again, and often you should try again...at a different time, not right away.  There is a thin line between persistence and outright harassment.

   Don’t take it personally, just because the person in front of you says “no” doesn’t mean the next one will, nor does it mean if you say “no” to someone that no one else will say “yes” to them.

   Just as people will say “no” to us, it is healthy - and necessary - for us to say “no” to others.

   Saying “no” is valuable, and when we say “yes,” we really do mean “yes.”

   And, ultimately, your life is defined by the “no’s” you get along the way, and by the “yes’s.”

Beth

Read the complete issue of The Chautauqua here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xUOjmBMYAr9bsAkACkZxxntzj14bb4Cj/view?usp=sharing

Contact The Chautauqua via email: thechautauqua@gmail.com or via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheChautauqua
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)