Daily Mood Quote - May 13, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Nine- May 13, 2011

I looked for a quote today on “what is being normal” unfortunately, what I found was either negative, or very sad. So, I asked my husband his opinion on being normal, this was his response:

“In terms of human behavior, normal is a fantasy of statistics. We are all different, we are all unique and we are all special in the Creator's eyes.”

~My Husband

During a conversation with my daughter last evening, she shared with me, the diversity she deals with every day at school and wasn't sure what normal was. Silence came over me. I wondered how do you describe “normal” to a teenager? Much like the word leadership, the word normal has many different meanings and means different things to a wide range of people. Here is what I told her. Normal is “what you know.” You see, you know you have two parents, who live under the same roof, who love each other and work together. To you that's normal. You have a friend, whose parents are divorced, they live with one parent and travel to see the other one on weekends and to them that is normal. You and I talk to each other, we listen to each other, we respect each other, that's normal to you. You have friends who have contentious relationships with their moms, they know yelling, arguing, door slamming, and for them that's normal. Normal is what people know, and in every home, every person has their idea of normal.  That normal behavior is passed down from generation to generation, it's what is known to everyone  as "their normal". There is no right or wrong in normal, there is just different. Let's not confuse right and wrong of normal with the rights and wrongs of life. My daughter replied with “That makes sense, that answers a few questions.”

So, normal isn't, well exactly “normal”. As Stockard Channing who played Aunt Frances said to Sally (Sandra Bullock) in the movie Practical Magic . "My darling girl, when are you going to understand that being normal is not necessarily a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."

For my family a new normal arises everyday.  Perhaps, we should worry less about normal and more about what is healthy and meaningful.

What is your definition of normal?

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote

Daily Mood Quote - May 12, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Eight- May 12, 2011

“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”



~Steve Jobs

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

~ William Shakespeare (Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78–82)

The lesson is timeless, but somehow folks can't seem to grasp its true value.

When I was a little girl, I went to my parents and told them “I want to grow up and be nun.” My mother laughed and my father said, “sure a n-o-n-e nun” and walked away to get a beer. I'm glad they got a good laugh out of it, but I was serious. Well, needless to say things “turned out different” (thanks Roy Hobbs in The Natural), I am not a nun, I went in the other direction, I am the mother of five children and have been in love with the same man for nearly 30 years. I guess it's a good thing I didn't become a nun, as usually they don't have children.

The point is “be true to yourself first.” Everybody that you know, or meet, is going to have an expectation of you. Well-meaning, or not, self-serving or not, their views will never ever be the true you. That has to come from inside of you, from your heart. We are each unique individuals and we have to be true to our best selves first, regardless of other people's expectations. When we try to be anything else, we will not only miss our true calling in life, we will be dooming ourselves to failure regardless of whatever “success” we may achieve in life. Each of us has a unique purpose, mission and destiny in this world. When you try to be everything for everybody, or fit someone else's version of you, then, you can never be the person you are supposed to be. Mother Theresa was being true to her core person, it just turned out that it was to help millions. If she would have tried to fit into someone else's mold, good or bad, chances are those people may have never received help. We are only given so much time in this world, we must be true to who we are in that time. We all have roles to play and goals to achieve; lets be sure that those roles and goals are yours. Don't worry, the universe will provide someone else to fill in the other roles you are not. That's a fact.

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote

Daily Mood Quote - May 11, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Seven- May 11, 2011

"It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”
— J. W. Goethe

The simple fact of the matter is, you get what you give. No matter what you call it, the energy you put out there is the energy you will get back. Many would call that karma. My husband calls it balancing the universe.

I have witnessed this in action many many times. The one that comes to my mind, is the one that is among the most recent. My husband has a life long condition called small fiber neuropathy caused by a super-active immune system, working in “hyperactive hyper-drive” (thanks Sheriff Woody-Toy Story and Pixar Studios). Unfortunately, this means he will deal with profound pain everyday for the rest of his life. Some good days = lower pain, bad days = high pain, We have had very few, if any, neutral days recently. Anyway, my husband's old boss, would make light of the pain, occasionally laughing at his pain when he walked, calling him names like gimpy, limpy and hop-a-long, while my husband was learning to deal with it. This made accepting the lifestyle change more difficult than it had to be. A short time later, my husband's old boss began having excruciating, crippling pain in his feet. He couldn't walk. After a few weeks he would be diagnosed with Gout, plus he had his accounts seized by the IRS. What goes around, comes around, sometimes with a vengeance.

Folks, be careful what you put out there, old lady karma, she's a lurking. Remember, you have the power and karma works both ways; The good you do will come back to you!

Tune in tomorrow to read the daily mood quote.

Daily Mood Quote - May 10, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Six - May 10, 2011

Believe you can and you're halfway there.    ~Theodore Roosevelt

Ever been a bystander? Ever said to a friend “what can we do?” while shrugging your shoulders and walking away? Ever brushed it off to, “Someone else will do something?” It seems as if it has become easier in today's world to walk away and believe you can't do anything than to Step Up and Step In^©.

Another good quote was written by Edwin Burke, “Evil thrives when good men do nothing.” Guess what, this goes for women too. The two quotes work together. But, it would appear in a world of “extreme” this and “mega” that, we as a culture, have chosen to do nothing. When it comes to energy, the environment, bullying and many other social ills, we sit idly by and wait for someone else to do something. Is it because we do not believe we can, or are we simply too “busy” with the irrelevant flotsam of the 24/7 news cycle to actually do anything? Tens of thousands of our neighbors homes have been recently destroyed by tornado's and flooding, yet “Dancing with The Stars” is the top conversation at the water cooler, instead of “What CAN we do to help?”

One of my favorite movies is “Evan Almighty.” God (played by Morgan Freedman) ask Evan to build an ARK, he reminded Evan “How do you change the world?” “One Act of Random Kindness at a time”

Real change happens when people (adults and children) believe they can make a difference. Be randomly kind today.

Let's build an A-R-K!!!

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote

Daily Mood Quote - May 9, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:

Day Five - May 9, 2011

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of someone else. 

        ~Judy Garland

 
Do you work to be accepted, do you change your behavior to fit in? Have you calculated the amount of energy it takes, to be everything to everyone all the time? If one is to observe truly successful people, you will find that they are always true to themselves. When they are not, they are not... It takes a certain courage to be true to yourself in today's 24/7 news cycle, rush to judgement world, but those who are, often find themselves suddenly in front of the pack, not behind.

To be true to yourself begins by asking not who am I, but what is the best version of me. We all have pluses and minuses. The trick is to prefer the positive.

FromAc-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, Arlen and Mercer 1944 and sang in movies ranging from Here come the Waves with Bing Crosby to Dr. John in the Mighty Ducks.

“You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative 

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between”

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote.

Daily Mood Quote - May 8, 2011

Daily Mood Quote:
Day Four - May 8, 2011

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.
~Washington Irving

When I became a mother for the first time, I was afraid, terrified of becoming like the woman I called mom. She wasn't the best role model for parenting. Maybe because I was the first and she was inexperienced, I don't know and I will never know, because she passed away many years ago. Every once in while, I find myself thinking of her and wondering if we would of ever been friends and what that relationship might have looked like. If there were only a rewind button in life and relationships, then maybe my mom and I would of had a chance. Unfortunately, there is no rewind button and no second chance for that relationship. I want to believe she was a good person, because I see my younger siblings and they liked, loved and miss her. But for me, my only hope is that she is at peace.

Today, I am the mother of five amazing children (three adults and two teenagers), and parenting for me has been an evolution, one that has been very carefully researched and planned out. It has allowed me to be an active part of each one of my children's lives. Each in a different way and at a different time in there lives, we have found a friendship. Like stepping stones on an otherwise difficult and murky path, guiding my children has guided me through life. For as much as I have taught my children, my children have taught me. Love, patience, dedication and a sense of humor. Boy, the stories I could tell…Happy Mother's Day

(no movie reference today, although my girls and I did watch "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" with Matthew Mcconaughey and Kate Hudson, while my husband watched "The Green Zone" with Matt Damon).

Tune in tomorrow to read the Daily Mood Quote.

Daily Mood Quote - May 7, 2011

Daily Mood Quote

Day Three - May 7, 2011

Because everything we say and do is the length and shadow of our own souls, our influence is determined by the quality of our being.

~Dale E. Turner

It has been said, "actions speak louder than words" and "bad days happen." Remember, yesterday is gone, today is new and tomorrow there is room for improvement.

Yesterday, my husband had a bad day, he growled and snapped at everyone. Not that he wanted too, or that being grouchy is his normal behavior, because it's not. He was not putting out good vibes and therefore did not receive good attitudes in return. Besides today's quote, there is a great saying, “what goes around, comes around” or “what you give is what you get.”

This morning he woke up in a good mood, after a late night conversation that started with “What in the hell is wrong with you dude?” It's one of my husband's favorite sayings for pointing out poor behavior and it came right back at him last night. Today is a new day and the road to improvement begins with admitting that you have something that needs to be improved. Our souls are constant works in progress, so the actions we make everyday need to work toward a better tomorrow. “You are who you choose to be” (thank you Iron Giant) and that choice is made everyday.

What will you choose today?

Tune in tomorrow for the Daily Mood Quote.