The Gift of Don't Give Up!

Sunrises remind me of not giving up...  a new day, a new start.
Photo Credit: My husband

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift Don’t Give Up

“Don’t be afraid to start over. This time you’re not starting from scratch.  You’re starting from experience.”

Unknown

It’s okay to start over, to make a fresh path.

When you have tried, toiled, and labored and gone through the drudgery.

Wipe the slate clean as best you can, glean the good bits and start the process again.

How many times have great inventors had to erase all of their work?  

Their process was not bearing fruit, they had to restart the process of labor again.

Only this time when they started, they had the gift of understanding within their command.

These great minds took the useful fragments and crafted a masterpiece by never giving up and starting over.  

This is a great lesson for both you and me. 

It’s okay to start over.  

To begin again.

Even if the starting over takes multiple times.  

Each time you are becoming more full of wisdom, and true tenacity, so that you can craft your great life masterpiece.  

Becoming an empty nester has certainly felt like starting over, not giving up, etc.. I never in a million years thought I would write a blog, write 13 children’s books and a novel. I just jotted down some other ideas for stories in the future. There is a thought in our society that once you do certain things such as: raise kids, reach a certain age, finish a certain job, etc.. that there is nothing left to do. What did C.S. Lewis say? “You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” Wise words. Each New Year we hear the term “New Year Resolution.”  The time when we evaluate ourselves and try to determine what needs to change for the better.  Usually those resolutions don’t last but the intent is to try.  What if we never tried to forge a new path or a better path?  Life would certainly be mediocre. Some folks may prefer mediocre, that is completely fine if that is where they want to live. But what is life without starting something new?  Challenging yourself?  Starting something over again with different methods and more experience?  Recently I read about Harland Sanders, the creator of Kentucky Fried Chicken.  This guy had so many jobs throughout his life.  He was a farmhand, a railroad worker, a lawyer, a hotel owner, and dustpan worker for a railroad. That is a few of the jobs listed in his biography.  There were more.  Sanders did not even begin to think about KFC until about age 50.  For a while he enjoyed success with his chicken business.  Fun fact, he sold his KFC franchise when Interstate 75 started to congest traffic a good deal.  After selling, he was left with only his savings and his $105 a month Social Security check, he was 65 years old.  Even then, this tenacious spirit did not give up.  He opted to start over yet again.  He often slept in his car going from restaurant to restaurant marketing his very special spices and his unique way of frying chicken.  All of this hard work paid off.  He finally had many places to dine both domestically in the US and Internationally.  In 1970 at the age of 73 he sold his business for 2 million dollars (roughly 18 million by today’s standards) and lived the rest of his life very comfortably.  When I read about his life I was in awe of his willingness to not give up.  Did he reach low points?  Absolutely.  Did he struggle?  I am quite sure.  But he never threw in the towel.  To give you all dear reader’s a few more examples.  Henry Ford was 45 when he started to design Ford Motor Vehicles.  Vera Wang was 40 when she designed her first dress.  Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart when he was 45.  The late great Julia Child started her path to success at the age of 50.  What is the moral of the story?  You have a gift inside of you.  Find that gift, share that gift even if that blessing is to a select few.  You can and will make the world, or just one person’s life a better dwelling place.  

Source: businessinsider.com

My books are on Amazon!

The Quacktastic Adventures of Ellie and Lord Barks a Lot

Clean it Up! Wash it Up!

Coming soon:

The Case of the Missing Honk Honk

The Case of the Missing Ornaments

Appalachian Allegory

The Gift of Darkness to Light

I took this on one of our early morning walks...

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Darkness to LIght.

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”

Sir Frances Bacon

Do you feel encompassed by darkness?

Do you feel the weight of its might?

The light just can’t permeate, you just want to give up the fight.

You try to find your way, you crawl and use your hands. 

You feel around in the darkness. 

You try to stand. 

You are not sure you can find your footing.

You squint your eyes to see.

That one little pin prick of light, that will guide you to luminosity.

You stand and pray.

You hope and dream that this light will come to be. 

Your prayers lead you to firm footing, and you think that you just might see…

A small bit of shining as your eyes adjust to the dark, could it be?

Your spirit is bolstered, your heart starts to beat with a quick pump and a start.  

You take those ginger steps towards that small source of light. 

It becomes brighter and brighter as you squint with all your might. 

The prayers, the tears, the heartache, the storms.

You see them start to dissipate.

As the light just comes a little brighter with each step you take. 

When you have your sure footing your steps become more sure. 

Dear One, it is most certainly darkest before the dawn. 

Of that you can be sure. 

Don’t give up, pray, stand up in the dark.

So that when the sun begins to shine you know you made it even when times were dark.

Give thanks, feel the light, know your strength. 

You can do this, you are stronger than you think.

Today I was pondering the phrase, “It is always darkest before the day dawneth.” This phrase was uttered by theologian and historian Thomas Fuller. He uttered this phrase when he stood on Mt. Pisgah.  Moses stood there before his death to see the promised land. There are times when I feel that we are in a very dark time in humanity.  We have so much as compared to other places. Yet, well… we think it is too little. Recently I read a book about places in Appalachia where there are folks who cannot read, they don’t have running water or heat. They are destitute in poverty.  Right in this country.  It really caused me to convert my, “Ugh, I have to go to the store.” to “I am so blessed to be able to go to the store.”  This past year in our home has been dark, there have been health issues galore with several family members, other traumatic events as well.  Top it all off with the news cycle, social media, the division of folks. It just seems dark, right? You often hear people equate dawn and sunrise.  When in fact they are completely different. Dawn is when you can detect a little light in the sky.  Sunrise is when the sun makes its first peaks over the horizon.  I have shared many writings about my dark:30 walks with my husband.  This morning it was early, cold, and honestly I did not feel like doing it.  What a great attitude, right?  But in my move towards changing my line of thinking I stopped.  I thanked God that I woke up, I could walk, and as we were coming down the driveway, I saw the first pin pricks of light announcing the dawn. A lot of the time we have to tread some darkness to bask in the full light of day.  What is the real point of this musing? Keep going, keep the faith, keep praying, keep that strength.  Crawl, walk, stumble towards the light.  When the path is clear and lit, you know you have made it.  Let us pray for our world.  Let us pray for those who are in the midst of harsh war. Let us pray for our country. Let us pray for each other.  I leave you all with a quick story about Cpl Duane E Dewey.  He fought during the Korean war.  Earlier he had been significantly injured by a grenade during an attack during the night.  They were outnumbered and outgunned. Cpl. Dewey saw a grenade land in the midst of the soldiers.  He told everyone to get back and he selflessly jumped on top of the grenade. He was lifted off the ground and still survived.  When he was taken for treatment, they also found a gunshot wound in his stomach.  He was the recipient of the first Medal of Honor ever presented by Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Cpl. Dewey thought nothing of saving his whole squad in a very dark time.  We probably won’t ever be faced with a situation as dark as this (God willing)..... But we can appreciate his bravery of climbing from deep darkness into light.  Keep searching for that pinprick of light.. Eventually your path will be gloriously illuminated. 

Sources:

Uso.org

Bookbrowse.com

My Books are on Amazon!

The Quacktastic Adventures of Ellie and Lord Barks a Lot

Clean it Up!  Wash it Up!

Coming soon:

The Case of the Missing Honk Honk

The Case of the Missing Ornaments

Appalachian Allegory

The Gift of Clean Sheets

I took this at a Naval Base in Rhode Island.  It just reminds me of your mind after you spent time cleaning inside...  a beautiful canvas that can be built upon.

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Clean Sheets

To be clean, what does that mean?

To be washed from dirt and impurities. 

To be refreshed and given a new scent that doesn’t contain the foul smells.

To be dried in the sun or dried with heat.

To make sure the item is free of germs.

What needs cleaning in your life?

What have you neglected for a long time?

Have you cleared your mind of constant negative thoughts?

Have you cleaned up your words?

Have you cleaned up your actions?

We all need a little cleaning to wash off the dust of daily life. 

So take a moment, do a little cleaning. 

This will change your actions. 

You know that feeling of laying down on freshly laundered sheets?  It feels amazing!  Maybe that is specific to our family but clean sheets are quite important. Having children in the military, they take clean to another level. Our twin boys attend a military college.  Each week their room is inspected for cleanliness.  The hangers have to contain exactly one finger length between each shirt or pants.  They have to own a footlocker for your miscellaneous items.  The floor has to be clean, the bathroom spotless.  If something fails inspection they get demerits. Pretty astounding, right?  Think about when you do not clean things in your home.  We are all guilty of this activity.  What happens?  The dirt, dust and grime build up because of neglect.  When you do finally reach the moment to cleanse and polish the items it takes twice as long to scrub, dust, sweet and mop the area.  Not only does this take extra time, you have an increased chance of getting sick because the dirt, dust, germs deteriorate air quality in your home.  If you have clutter everywhere what happens?  You trip and fall and in some cases get hurt.  I can hear you saying, “I hate to clean.” Agreed.  I know a handful of folks who like to clean but the necessity to clean never goes away.  Now, let us move this into our everyday life.  What happens if you do not take a little time to wash off and sanitize our thoughts and our spiritual life? We start to thrive off negative thoughts and emotions.  If you wake up in a negative mindset that sets the tone for your entire day.  Positive folks want others to be happy.  Even if their circumstances are vastly different.  Recently I read a quote that said, “It’s hard to be happy when you do not clean up or even throw out what is making you sad.” It is not always easy or even possible, but perhaps a little dusting off would help you make it to a better place mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Those of us who have kids, particularly a quiver full fought the battle of cleaning constantly with kids when they were little.  When our daughter was about 8 years old she was quite distraught because she could not find a particular stuffed animal that was important to her.  My husband and I walked into her room and it looked like a tornado had blown through not once but several times.  It was utter chaos. Our parenting style was we were not going to do everything for them but rather start helping them and guiding them and ultimately they finish the job.  We told her to start by picking things up off the floor.  Find the garbage and put it in the trash, put the clothes in the basket, etc. Our daughter took everything, clothes, stuffed animals, trash, everything and deposited said items onto her bed.  She came to us quite proud that she had “cleaned” her room.  We walked into her room and well, yes the room was clean but the bed looked like the tornado just picked everything up and put it on her bed.  In all of her “cleaning” she still had not found the all important stuffed animal.  We told her to perhaps actually take everything off the bed and put it in their special place.  After all, she will eventually have to go to bed and well, it would be hard to sleep on that pile.  “I’ll just sleep on the floor.” She said, with a sigh we were in for the long haul helping her clean her room.  We threw away the garbage.  Put the toys in their special place and what do you know?  Her important stuffed animal was at the bottom of the pile.  How many times do we chuck everything into a corner or pile our “dirty bits” on top of a metaphorical bed?  I know I am guilty of these actions a lot.  We all need to take a little time each week or each day to put on those clean sheets.  Clean out that pile of negative emotions, find that small sliver of clean and start to declutter our life. I would add in this particularly dark time in the world it is so necessary to clean those spiritual sheets.  Wash our minds, scrub our souls.  Pray for others.  I leave you with a witty quote from Lauren Bacall: “The best things in life are clean living, good works and big sapphires.  And not in that order.”

  My books are on Amazon:  

The Quacktastic Adventures of Ellie and Lord Barks a Lot

Clean it Up! Wash it Up!

Coming soon:

The Case of the Missing Honk Honk

The Case of the Missing Ornaments

Appalachian Allegory

The Gift of Psithurism

 

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Psithurism

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the Autumn tree.”

Emily Bronte

The gust of wind that gives you a little chill. 

The leaves that fall like rain all around, they make the most wonderful sound.

The red, the orange, the yellow beautiful leaves.

They are giving their show stopping performance before taking a reprieve. 

The crispness of an Autumn day adds to the delight of this wonderful display. 

Stop, take a moment.  

Enjoy the wind.

Let it caress you, let its tendrils touch your soul.

Enjoy the leaves, enjoy the wind, take a little stroll. 

Let them calm your spirit and take some time to pray. 

Give your spirit a respite from the cares of the day. 

The wind can be our teacher and a wonderful guide. 

To find solace in nature one day at a time. 

That solace leads to peace and meaningful reflection.

Which leads to growth, patience and for a moment, pure perfection.

Psithurism?  You are probably scratching your head wondering what in the world is she talking about now? Psithurism is the sound of wind in the trees and rustling of leaves.  I had not heard of this word until recently.  I thought about what an interesting word, interesting concept, and yes, I do love it. I thought, how can we relate this to everyday life?  One of the many times that my husband and I have visited Rhode Island, we were always in awe of the wind turbines.  There are a lot of them around and they are HUGE!  Those turbines provide power to many homes in the area.  What can we draw from that? Let the wind caress you, it will give you a little power.  Wind, (when it is not dangerous) is refreshing and can be quite powerful.  The leaves, well the rustle is kind of nice on a fall day.  I can remember when I was a child running and jumping into piles of leaves from the front yard.  It was quite fun.  One of the funniest things I have seen in the last few years is our really old lady dog running and jumping into the leaf piles in the backyard.  She acts like she is a puppy again. Today I had to drive for a while, so I decided I would catch the news.  Well, as I predicted.  It is not good.  So much suffering.  I offer my prayers for those who are in harm's way on a daily (sometimes multiple times) basis.  I cannot even fathom the pain that they are going through, the fear.  Sometimes life gets that way and we are not nearly as impacted as those across the pond (or some would argue, those who are only miles away from us).  We can’t see the forest for the trees.  What can you do? Well, I read today that you can go outside and feel the wind.  It takes something that is stagnant and blows away the mind and soul dust.  It is actually refreshing to the human psyche.  There are places in the Bible that refer to the Holy Spirit as a refreshing wind that lifts your spirit.  Wind, leaves, etc.. all are signs of rejuvenation.  The leaves fall so that they can grow again and be renewed.  The wind blows and brings cooler temps and refreshing rain.  Wind breathes new life into nature.  Go ahead!  Embrace Psithurism!  In the words of Henry Ford: “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”

The Gift of Life is Beautiful

Pray dear friends.  

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Life is Beautiful

“Life is abundant, and life is beautiful. And it's a good place that we're all in, you know, on this earth, if we take care of it.” “Keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

Life is Beautiful

Life.  It is supposed to be beautiful. 

Humans should love each other. 

Look at the news, see the suffering. 

There is no evidence of that love.

Common respect, love for your neighbor.

Those tenets have clearly fallen out of favor. 

There has to be goodness out there. 

Surely, there has to be. 

Prayers, fervent prolonged and urgent

They are needed for those who are suffering such terror. 

The suffering is too much to bear. 

The mother crying for her child.

The family slaughtered, the hostages taken. 

The violence, it is just vile.

What can we do?

How can we help?

What can we say? 

Again dear readers, first. Pray.

After that, be kind to your neighbor. 

Give them the gift of care.

Give them a smile.

Lift them up.

Find what brings us together and make that your goal.

Tell those who seek to divide us we stand for one common goal.

Do good, be good. Love your neighbor as yourself. 

Stop the river of hatred. 

Release the dam of goodness, gentleness and care.

I have no words for the news that I have been listening to today.  I cried.  I mourned.  So much evil in the world.  Children are being killed.  Mothers are bearing so much pain.  Families are being slaughtered.  I just have no words.  I know that some folks say, “Take those prayers and actually do something.”  Well, I would say to you, that prayers do work. To know that someone has you on their mind when you are going through immense struggle is indeed a comfort.  To know that there are those who pray for peace.  It is a great comfort.  I have spoken to a couple of folks who are impacted by this situation in that part of the world.  They have asked explicitly and implicitly for prayer.  Friends.  Pray.  For those of us who are parents, pray for those who have no clue where their children are located.  Can you imagine?  I would be crawling out of my skin.  Recently I read the book that is associated with a movie from the 90s called, “Life is Beautiful.”  It was based on a family that was taken to death camps during World War II.  The family was separated.  The father was with the son, he did not want his young son to really know the severity of the situation.  He made their imprisonment like a game.  A game that was played during their entire time in that camp.  When the liberation was at hand, the father told his son to hide in a box until morning.  He knew the liberation was coming.  Shortly before morning came the father was captured and executed.  The son waited until the morning and was met with US Soldiers who were freeing those who were captive.  The son emerged from the box thinking he had won the game.  He was completely unaware that his father gave the ultimate sacrifice to save him.  He was eventually reunited with his mother.  The book ends with him reflecting as an adult just how much his father did to protect him through some pretty harrowing circumstances.  Friends, I have to wonder if that is going on right now.  Fathers, mothers, protecting the innocent from the ravages of war.  Yes, we must pray.  We must be good to those around us.  We must count our blessings.  We must see that diamond in the rough.  We must because life is indeed beautiful.  Life can also change in an instant.  Find the beautiful.