Today’s Good Word

Tenacity – Def: The determination to continue what you are doing

When life is moving along smoothly, there’s no need to turn the dial up on our tenacity. It’s when we’re slogging through the tough times that we need tenacity. Tenacity is our ability to hang in there when the going gets tough. It’s the strength and determination to refuse to quit no matter how much time is left in the game. I think we all have a tenacity gene, turn it on in the dark hours and fight on. Neve quit, never give in, never stop trying.

Silence – Def: A period without any sound; complete quiet.

As I write this blog entry, I turned off streaming music. Ah, silence. I do not experience complete silence. I hear the sounds of the washing machine. I hear a bird singing outside my widow, and my stomach has an annoying habit of making a strange sound every now and then. Yet, in this atmosphere, my mind is free from external noise that interferes with my thinking. Thoughts now race across the movie screen of my mind. Were they always racing across my mind? I don’t know, but in silence, I can hear them. Periods of silence are a good thing. They allow us to come into contact with ourselves. Don’t fear meeting yourself, I have a hunch you may have a new BFF.

Responsibility – Def: Good judgment and the ability to act correctly and make decisions on your own

We’ve all heard the expression, “take responsibility.” It’s easy to take responsibility when things are going right. It’s another story when things are going bad. It is why the first step in the 12-step program is to admit one is powerless to handle his/her alcohol problem. In effect, it is taking responsibility. When we take responsibility for the good and poor actions in our lives we are chiseling our character. A person of good character takes responsibility for his/her actions. He/she doesn’t manufacture lies, project blame elsewhere, but has the courage to stand on his/her two feet and take the consequences.

Detour – Def: a different or less direct route to a place that is used to avoid a problem or to visit somewhere or do something on the way

Detours are part of life. They are ubiquitous. They occur on the highway, in our daily life, in the supermarket, and in our work. Detours can make us upset or give us another perspective. We never know what surprises will show up on one of our detours. One could meet the love of his/her life, get a great idea. Enjoy the detours in your life, you may end up being grateful the detour showed up.

Hangout – Def: a place where someone or a particular group spends a lot of time

Who do you hangout with? Where do you hangout? When you leave those you hangout with, do you feel better or worse? Do the people you hangout with encourage you? Who we hangout with is important because we quickly assimilate the values and language of the people we hangout with. Think of it this way. You’re making a cake for a special occasion. How will the cake turnout if you use inferior or wrong ingredients? It’s the same way with us. Those we hangout with will lift us or drag us down. Here’s hoping everyone you hangout with lifts your spirits and encourages you.

Truckload – Def: the amount of something that can be carried by a truck

Here’s hoping opportunities knock on your door by the truckload.

Here’s hoping you have truckloads of trusted friends.

Here’s hoping good news arrives at your home by the truckload.

Here’s hoping you carry love by the truckload.

Here’s hoping all the good things life has to offer flow to you and those you love by the truckload.

Intuition – Def: (knowledge from) an ability to understand or know something immediately based on your feelings rather than facts

Have you ever been introduced to someone, shook hands, and instantly knew you couldn’t trust this person? I have. That’s our intuition protecting us. Is our intuition infallible? No, but we’d be foolish not to pay attention to it. I recall randomly reading an article about a topic related to my academic research. Halfway through I had a flash of intuition telling me to abandon the research path I was on and embrace a new path that had a steep learning curve. It made all the difference for me. When intuition knocks, open the door, listen to it, ignore it at your own risk.

Real – Def: things as they really are, not as they exist in the imagination, in a story, on the internet, etc.

I like smiles that are real. I like folks who wear their emotions on their sleeves. I like folks who understand the ups and downs of life because they’ve lived them. These kinds of folks are real. Life has smoothed their rough edges. They have nothing to hide, they are who they are, nothing more, nothing less. It’s not easy to be real in a world that seems to reward a facsimile of what is real. Becoming real is a life process. It can’t be bought, or taught. It happens the day one can look in the mirror and love what they see. They love the scars, joys, loves and lost loves. They know the journey they’ve traveled taught them more than any university could teach. Here’s hoping your journey has made you real.