We have all been in that place during our lives, at one time or another, when where we want to be seems to be obscured by so many mountain size obstacles in our way… or even worse, our path or walkway is going in an entirely different direction than where we’d intended.
When I feel frustrated with repeat outcomes of situations (obstacles) I have struggled with numerous times in my journey, I like to remind myself to change my perspective… for a bit of “keep it real” sort of thinking. Sometimes I forget whose in control of things and find myself trying to move or stuff or shove things where they do not fit. For those times I might need it, I wanted to leave myself a note of encouragement in this regard, so I asked Google for some suggestions.
I stumbled upon an great saying, and by a doctor no less. His name is Dr. Wayne Dyer and he is a writer and motivational speaker. Maybe check him out if you get a chance.
Todays Note to Self #10 is one from an article Dyer published…
“If you challenge the way you look at obstacles, the obstacles you look at change”.
This says everything without me adding any more… so that is saying something.
There is a song I want to share with you, as it speaks to my heart when I face mountains in my life… maybe take a moment to have a listen. The God Who Moves the Mountains by Corey Voss
What you see is pretty much what you get with me, whichever way you look. As I have basically written out every memory I can recall for everyone here to read, as well as documenting all my self tattling and disclosures. My archives are open, so it’s all there still.
Daily writing prompt
What’s something most people don’t know about you?
Unless you have just been surprised by the knowledge that I’m an over sharer, I honestly cannot think of anything in particular that I have not already disclosed to pretty much the whole literary world. Outside of WordPress, there’s only a handful of people I come into contact with, most of which don’t visit my blog. I have decided to exclude them from this prompt, as they selected to opt out of reading.
I have written in depth of my Overthinkers Anonymous Club that meets in the wee dark hours of the mornings, when I am overly anxious about something.
You have also heard mention of my roommates IBS and Fibromyalgia, as well as more knowledge about my day to day health than you probably wanted to know.
As you can see, we could spend hours recounting all the things I’ve already shared here, so I would rather try to focus on something new for you… anything really.
Oh… I got something… I was once a Certified Diver! Back when I was much younger, I took a whole course on Scuba Diving, gaining certification with open diving right here in the great Puget Sound. There is an underwater dive park near Kirkland, WA., where my test was administered. When I was swimming through a sunken ship, I saw an octopus, which was pretty impressive.
A short time later, there was an opportunity to go diving off the coast of California, down by La Jolla Shores. There are underwater Sand Dollar beds there, where all you see are floating sand dollars underneath the waves, as far as the eye can see… all standing at attention vertically on their sides.
That beach was also where I had my deepest dive; descending a whopping 86 feet, which was deep enough for things to become black and white. I also had opportunity to dive while in Hawaii, even snorkeling with turtles and other sea life in those waters. Unforgettable!
I lost the desire to dive after I ran into a friend one afternoon, immediately noticing her two black eyes and blood red eyeballs… I mean blood red!
She had gone on a dive with her husband earlier that week, and while on the dive she found herself unable to clear her mask of air pressure from that depth. Rather than alerting her husband of the predicament, she opted to just finish the dive and overlook the discomfort. Upon surfacing, her eyes swelled horribly and all the blood vessels burst, causing her eyes to turn red. That little discomfort turned into hours in a hyperbaric chamber, a few nights stay at the hospital and the two black eyes she was now sporting.
That was all it took for me to lose my nerve, when it came to swimming under the sea… at least in real life anyway.
There we have it ladies and gents, a little something new about me that you didn’t know before now. I know it’s not much, but look on the bright side… when I started this post, I said Nada, but ended up proving myself wrong.
I must apologize for accidentally publishing my chapters of Brutus in the wrong order this morning… I know this is not the Actual confession, but I’ll get to that in a moment, so don’t get your panties in a bunch.
As my Live Novel Fridays are supposed to be only one Chapter at a time on the draft board, I must briefly confess that I had an extra chapter sitting in the lobby, so to speak. I got so excited that I wrote ahead, thinking I could keep things straight on the draft board… bad idea, as we can clearly see today. This little oopsie opened up a huge can of worms in my procrastination department. Truth be told, it’s all that prompts fault!
My true reason for writing this note to you, is to call myself on the carpet… draw a line in the sand, so to speak, regarding a task that I have been trying to tortoise along, when it shouts for Wiwohka to arise, carrying it through to completion! When Live Novel Friday was first created, its framework had enabled the completion of a very painful story to unfold, SLOWLY… disclosing self truths can be difficult and must take time in the telling.
While the old framework worked well for that book, Brutus requires much much more. As I was walking this morning, it dawned on me that I had posted the wrong chapter… causing my brain to scramble for a way to fix things. I quickly realized several things, one of which was the fact that it was out there… no going back! Damage control stepped in next, seeking to make it look like I meant to do that! Finally, I came to realize that I have somehow managed to shove that Raging Roaring Water of my spirit down the throat of an unsuspecting turtle!
When Brutus was born within my mind, I thought I had an idea of what I was doing with his story. Brutus and all the ones within his world began to take on a life of their own. I have been using the old tortoise writing style out of trepedation… hiding behind only one chapter a week, and trying to stuff the rest of what is exploding in my mind into a file to finish later.
It ends here!
As I stand here on this beach, preparing to leave the shores of expectations, I am terrified of the unknown and yet compelled to sail there… to gather up all I discover out there and bring it alive for you, as it unfolds to this storyteller!
If you spot my tiny craft out on the water, and I am not to be found… do not fear, for I am simply beneath you, down in the depths within some long forgotten Library of old, gathering clues to where my journey will lead me next…
I believe so much in Brutus that I am going to set sail on this story, and while I cannot say how much I will write from week to week, I am pulling out all of my literary stops, and I am leaving that old anchor of doubt, fear and procrastination right here on the beach. Brutus and Jarl both deserve so much and though I don’t even know all of their story yet, I will just write it as it comes… all of it… for I will walk by faith that it’s all in there waiting to spring forth.
I am a disclaimer, and self tattler by nature, but I think you may have figured that out by now. I did that tattling part, and now I will do the disclaimer part. Please do not think that I am expecting you to drop everything and hang on my every word, because I’m not! Read it when you wish, if you wish… no biggie. I chose to just write this all out here, instead of pulling the novel and putting in some easy reading stuff. I care about you all as if you were family, and I want to share my journey, and Brutus’ journey, with those I care about.
You guys and gals are so valuable to me on this venture, as I know that you will hold my feet to the fire and not let me out of finishing this task in which I can no longer procrastinate over…
It is Time! I push off of these familiar shores, sailing for Narsyth… to bring to life a dragon with the heart of a man…
I’m going to straight up answer this prompt, as it is an appropriate question and … there are no WHY’S in it.
My answer is, a bit of both!
If I am taking a lazy day after a stint of heavy writing, or something like that, it is an absolutely sublime feeling to sleep in until I Want to get out of bed… notice I said want and not need. Alarm clocks are tools of the devil, placed in our rooms to torment us with horrible songs… sending us frantically feeling around on the mattress to find the offending minstrel, and drown him!
Now, it’s a whole different story when I am trying to take a lazy day, when I know there are things I need to be doing, but am procrastinating for one reason or another. No matter how hard I try, the feeling of responsibility follows me through the day, constantly sending my brain these little PSSSTTTT reminders of the tasks I have been strategically avoiding.
The prompt question used the word unproductive as the negative side of a lazy day, and I think it is a really great word to use… in comparison to the Procrastinating word! Feeling unproductive is far less distressing to my brain, than admitting to the P word. I have always been one to take the bull by the horns as they say, diving headlong into tasks I feel are important. I often derive a sort of pleasure from successfully completing tasks that stretch me out of my comfort zone.
The toggle switch between rested and unproductive can sometimes be a loose one, giving us a day filled with rest mostly, but here and there are a moment or two of mental reminders that try to rob us of our rest. Maybe this is just me, who knows?
What I have come to understand about the thing that steals my rest on those lazy days… it’s fear! I know I said procrastination before, but I am going a little deeper to the cause of this mental state. My personal procrastination usually stems from a fear… a fear of failure, rejection, judgement from others, and a host of other insecurities that can try to assert themselves as a way to excuse the fear of Doing!
I find that the one day at a time thing works pretty well for this ole girl. I have adopted the attitude of the tortoise so to speak. There is a finish line and I aim to get there, in due time…
Til then I am going to take my lazy days and I will shout in the face of Unproductive, “La La La La… I’m not listening… La La La La!”
I feel it only fair to mention the blunt forms of descriptors here, but if they have to pick it up, then I want to call it out…
My husband and I frequented more public restrooms than I care to remember, while he drove a Semi Tractor Trailer for some years, and I was offended by the human capacity to NOT flush a friggin toilet… on a daily basis, to be quite honest. I saw things that you do not want me to share, some things that absolutely should have stayed in peoples own dirty bathrooms.
That person you are shopping next to, the one testing the ripeness of that cantelope… chances are that they did NOT wash their hands after using the restroom. How do I know this, you might ask? Cause I was in there and watched them walk right out the door with a strip of toilet paper stuck on the back of their shoe.
Without getting any grosser, I will simply say “We Salute You” to those unfortunate employees that will never get paid enough to pick up after numerous adult strangers that apparently were raised in a barn in the backwoods of some very remote Commune, and were never taught how to use the restroom beyond the age of 4.
In an attempt to help a guy or girl out, I am leaving you with a saying I have been using for years, most likely read off of a bathroom stall,
“May your life be like a roll of toilet paper… Long and useful”…
According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, Successful is defined as gaining or having gained success.
The actual word Success is defined as a noun, while Successful is actually an adjective. I decided to look up things on google because I wasn’t sure how to answer this morning.
The actual meaning of just the word Success is a favorable or desired outcome and or the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.
Daily writing prompt
When you think of the word “successful,” who’s the first person that comes to mind and why?
I could have simply answered Walt Disney, since he built Disneyland up from no bigger than a fairground, to a dream come to life. But now that I have a clearer picture in my mind of what the prompt question is asking, I refuse to give this answer on the grounds that it is wholly unfair to anybody not on the list.
Absolutely everyone I know, has had some measure of success in their life, at one time or another. Who am I to pick one person over the other for todays answer? Who am I to decide whether my one friend is more successful because she delivered a healthy baby, or the other friend who finally landed her dream career. How superficial does WordPress think I am?
The prompt question also failed to clarify whether there was a number involved. Must we pick someone with only 2 successes or the one that has 8… maybe success came easier for the 8 person, than it did for the one who only sports 2?
As I understand WordPress to be simply giving us questions that offer an opportunity to write either outside the box, or sometimes pretty deep into the pond… I will extend some grace here today. I love to tease and jest over the choice of questions we see everyday, as this has become my style…
I could be flippant and sarcastic, but I choose not to…
I could be rude when I answer, but I choose not to…
I could just not answer, but I choose not to…
Why?
Because, no matter what the question is that WordPress poses for us each morning, it forces me to think outside my mental box which can be quite stuffy and suffocating, if I stay there too long without bringing in some fresh air. I fully enjoy the mental, emotional, and often spiritual stretching that occurs for me every time I answer a tough prompt question. This has truly become my morning brain exercise, before I dive into deep literary content creation.
So I have chosen to answer that I see the potential for success, in each and every soul that I encounter on a daily basis. I have witnessed it in the past in many, and seek to find it in whomever I meet in the future…
I was wondering why the frisbee kept getting bigger and bigger, but then it hit me.
Now it’s your turn… just pick your favorite off the web or make up your own. Try to find a funnier one than I found and share it in the comments. I know you got it in you!
I think it is not only on point, but actually quite funny if I do say so myself…
In my experience, they either need to be paid to be nice or are simply kind and loving people… the kind of kind and loving that arises from a source within that isn’t us, cause we’re MEAN!
So ya, faint hearts never won fair ladies as they say, because getting old is NO picnic! I feel like some explorer preparing to embark on a huge and daunting expedition.
I will say without a doubt, the care I am receiving with this new Eye Specialist is absolutely Stellar. It is an odd sensation to enter a professional medical establishment, and later walk out feeling good… in my personal experience.
I have had doctors tell me I was fine, I have had doctors lie to me, and I have had a doctor actually ask me to leave, and later sent me divorce papers from his office. He asked me if I thought he believed me, and when I said no he just closed his laptop, got up saying he was unable to help me, and walked out of the exam room.
While I realize that I may be a difficult medical case, that is NOT my fault! When did I drive down to the local Healthcare Department store, walk up to the Illness counter and order a Supersize on some Child Abuse… add an order of Mental and Emotional Trauma in the form of IBS, and also for my drink and dessert… please throw in Fibromyalgia, Arthritis and a Degenerative Disc thingy. Oh yeah, and can you throw in a side order of PTSD and Cataracts.
My point is, I did not ask to have things go wrong in my life, but I didn’t realize how many doctors would mishandle things, that’s all.
For whatever His reasons are, the Lord is prompting me to step out in faith and seek some care. If I am going to write to you everyday, waxing poetic about God leading and guiding us, I should probably practice what I preach if I am being completely honest.
Surprisingly, all my appointments with both the Eye Surgeon and my new Medical Doctor have gone quite smoothly. The X-rays came back and finally the Arthritis is clearly visible in both my pictures and in my bloodwork. Now I just wait for my upcoming appointment with the Sports Medicine Specialist. I have had this pain all my life, but was always poopoo’d by the professionals… “No No, everything’s fine, nothings wrong… it’s just your imagination.” Maybe things will play out better this time around… either way, I’ll go forward in faith.
The forward faith walking I will be embarking on, for my eyes at least, will commence on November 29th. Apparently, this particular day will be the start to a 3 week adventure package including but not limited to, 2 separate eye surgeries and 2 follow up appointments for each eye. But wait, there’s more… not just the 6 appointments are included, but an eye drop medication regime 4 times a day, just to add some excitement. Though it seems daunting to juggle all this in a short time period, I would rather do it all together than stagger the surgeries and have to wear a pair of glasses with one of the lenses popped out, for the weeks of waiting in between procedures.
I am considering the purchase of a pair of those cosmetic contact lenses… you know, the ones with like zombie eyes or vampire eyes. Maybe to break my tension of things, I could hand the doctor a pair of these contacts as they wheel me in for surgery, suggesting he place the ones I picked out ahead of time. As I will be pretty medicated by this time, perhaps I should rethink this, as I won’t be sober enough to stop the doctor if he takes me serious.
Journey With Me! 