toughness
Thinking Out Loud: Live, Swim Upstream
“Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.” ~ Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
NOTE: I have a talented friend who lives in fear. He had many opportunities to have a more prestigious job, he turned them down making one excuse after another. He has a basement stocked with supplies in case of emergencies. He doesn’t venture more than a hundred miles from his home unless a business requirement necessitates travel. He is a prisoner to his fears. Fear can do that to us. It makes us turn unreal things into catastrophes in our mind. I like to recall my childhood memory of going with my dad to the herring run and catching herring with my hand as they swam upstream to spawn. It’s a great metaphor for life, swim upstream. That’s were life waits. If the salmon and herring didn’t swim against the flow of the rivers they’d become extinct. Live, swim upstream.
Episode 19: Using my Grieving Journal to Tell Babe What I am Experiencing
In Episode 19 of my podcast, Journey from Grief to Healing I follow M’s advice and talk to Babe through my journal. It was a tough journal to write. Like so many other parts of the grieving experience it’s not what I want to do. It’s what I have to do if I want to experience healing.
You can listen to this episode on your favorite podcast app or click on the following link:
https://raycalabrese.podbean.com/e/episode-19-using-my-grieving-journal-totell-babe-what-i-am-experiencing/?token=d61f1d6827ba4878ff5942ed0f146844
Thinking Out Loud: Rise Up and Take on the Challenges
“The secret of life, though, is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.”
― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist
NOTE: Have you ever failed? I have and combined we don’t have enough toes and fingers to count the ways I’ve failed. It happens. Failure only stops us if we give it power over us. Failure only stops us if we give in to despair and hopelessness. When life throws you a challenge in 2024, don’t give up. If you’re knocked to your knees, rise up. Let the challenges you’ll face in 2024 know they better be ready for a fight and you won’t back down.
Today’s Inspiring Quote by Shelley Tells us Not to Fear the Future
Fear not for the future, weep not for the past.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Daily Inspiring Quotes ~ Never Quit
The harder you work,
the harder it is to surrender.
Thinking Out Loud ~ Beware the Criticism and Flattery
Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Aesop’s Fable, The Fox and the Crow. Aesop’s Fables is available for free download here.
The Fable
“A Crow was sitting on a branch of a tree with a piece of cheese
in her beak when a Fox observed her and set his wits to work to
discover some way of getting the cheese. Coming and standing under
the tree he looked up and said, “What a noble bird I see above me!
Her beauty is without equal, the hue of her plumage exquisite. If
only her voice is as sweet as her looks are fair, she ought without
doubt to be Queen of the Birds.” The Crow was hugely flattered by
this, and just to show the Fox that she could sing she gave a loud
caw. Down came the cheese, of course, and the Fox, snatching it up,
said, “You have a voice, madam, I see: what you want is wits.”
.
Note: A mentor took me aside and gave me the following advice. My mentor said, “Ray, don’t pay too much attention to the criticism you’ll receive. There are some people who think their life’s mission is to bring others down. Similarly, don’t pay too much attention to those who flatter you. Yes, it feels good, but it’s about as accurate as the criticism. He was right and his words helped me to maintain my balance.
Thinking Out Loud ~ Learn from Experience
Today’s Thinking Out Loud reflection is on Aesop’s Fable, The Cat and the Mice. Aesop’s Fables is available for free download here.
The Fable
“There was once a house that was overrun with Mice. A Cat heard
of this, and said to herself, “That’s the place for me,” and off
she went and took up her quarters in the house, and caught the Mice
one by one and ate them. At last the Mice could stand it no longer,
and they determined to take to their holes and stay there. “That’s
awkward,” said the Cat to herself: “the only thing to do is to coax
them out by a trick.” So she considered a while, and then climbed
up the wall and let herself hang down by her hind legs from a peg,
and pretended to be dead. By and by a Mouse peeped out and saw the
Cat hanging there. “Aha!” it cried, “you’re very clever, madam, no
doubt: but you may turn yourself into a bag of meal hanging there,
if you like, yet you won’t catch us coming anywhere near you.”
Note: There are lots of slicks folks who want to take advantage of us. We get warned about scams coming through on emails or text messages. They may be a politician or someone we work with. We may not recognize it in the moment when someone is taking advantage of us. But we can learn from the experience and not be taken advantage of again. Experience can be a tough teacher. Anytime we refuse to be taken advantage of, we become stronger and wiser. We don’t have to be a victim. We are empowered people if we choose to be.
