Light, Love, Hope

Who needs a reason to spend time doing something your children love?  Why not do it … just because?  No special occasion needed.  No other reason than just wanting to spend quality time together!

While my oldest daughter slipped off to meet with a church regarding incorporating her special effects makeup into their Easter program, my youngest and I slipped off to the fine art’s center!

Pulling on our aprons and typing pretty bows behind us, we glanced at the multi-colored paint before us.  The canvas was clear and white, but pretty soon it all came to life.

Our days start out just like that.  Each morning we are given a clean slate.  The day is bright with all kinds of possibilities.  While we may not know what all we will face during the course of that day, we can choose what light to paint it in.  Do we smear black and gray onto our pretty white canvas of the day, determined to remain in our dreary mood when something we don’t like happens to us?  Or do we purposely pick up pastel colors with our paint brushes and try to paint sunshine and rainbows instead of gloomy skies?

I realize things happen which are completely beyond our control.  We have to give ourselves some time to adjust when things are not going our way.  I’m not saying put on a happy face and pretend there isn’t any bad in the world.  What I am saying, though, is don’t remain in your bad frame of mind.  Get out and do something about the issue, if you can.  Then once you have exhausted all of your efforts, rest in the knowledge you did the very best you possibly could.  Yes, the matter still remains out of your control, but you gave it your best shot.

That’s why I paint with my little one.  For that period of time, nothing can intrude upon my thoughts for I am safe and secure in my zone with my daughter painting our little hearts out.

When things happen that are beyond your control, do something you CAN control … like paint, plant flowers, rearrange your living room furniture.   Do something so you don’t remain in your powerless state.  Taken back control over that which you can control and leave the rest to God.

We go about our daily lives making plans, but some times those plans fall through.   We have to revise the original plan, and go to Plan B.  Often times, we don’t like anything that takes us off course.  Once in our minds, we want things to go our way.  When it doesn’t, it has the potential of sending us spirarling out of control.

Despite our plans, God is ultimately in control anyway.  This is something we all need to realize.  We can plan things down to the minute, and yet something will come along that will change everything!

We’re sitting in limbo currently over a situation.  For the planner that I am, this is really getting on my nerves!  We had plans for the latter part of this week, but with things so up in the air medically, only God knows for sure if we will be able to move forward.

And so I pray for acceptance of what is to come.  I try to adjust my mind and my attitude so this doesn’t completely deflate me if things don’t go as originally planned.

I have to trust that God knows best, and His revised plans will be for the best.

We should all take pride in our work.  Yet, there is a slacker in every office.  It’s quite irritating when you’re working and doing all that is required of you – and more – and there they sit doing everything else BUT working.  They clearly have work that is begging to be done, but they are not interested in earning an honest day’s pay.  Instead, they slack off and brag about slacking off.

There is a sense of entitlement.  I’ve heard that word mentioned with the up and coming generation; that they have a sense of entitlement.  It’s not just that generation, though.  I’ve seen it in people my age, too.  I used to work with a girl who refused to do her work, and yet some how she managed to keep her job.  Her work then became MY work as it was passed on to me!  They knew I would take charge whereas she would not.   She and I were friends at one point, but her constant laziness and laughing about how I got to do her work changed all of that.

When did people stop taking pride in their work?

For me, I am anything but a slacker.  I take my work very seriously, and I jump right on anything that needs to be done.  You don’t ever have to ask if I’ve done so and so.  It’s done.  I have been picked at about notes on the outside of file folders on cases I’m working on.  But, I make notations every step of the way so people don’t have to question what happened.  It’s right there on the front of the folder in detail!

If you’re reading this and you’re a bit of a slacker, be honest with yourself and realize that laziness will not ever pay off.  In the long run, it won’t!  Have a little pride, get yourself together, and work HARD!  People are watching how you carry yourself, they are paying attention to your work ethic, and they are realizing the type of person you truly are!

You will not be able to skate through life forever a slacker.

Consider yourself warned!