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Archives for September 2009

Are You Wasting Time or Investing Time?

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Alexa

Every minute of your day is either wasted or invested.

Ah, yes, but sometimes the “wasted” is invested in sanity!  Nevertheless, the quote above has a great deal of merit.

I read a really good weight management tip years ago that went something like this:  Before each bite, ask yourself, “Am I even hungry?” I often ask myself this very question as  I’m reaching for a cookie, chocolate kiss, or possibly even something healthy.  Sometimes I’ll say, “Yes, I am!” and complete the transaction – other times I’ll say, “No, I’m not” and complete the transaction.

Point is, I do try to keep myself honest.

We can do the same with our time management.  If we periodically ask ourselves during the day, “Am I wasting time or investing time?” – I think we’ll soon realize that many of the things we do during the day are like black holes.  Our minutes and hours fall into the vastness never to return again.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for unwinding and I’m a huge fan of recess.  Even when I was a little girl, I was always the first one to the playground.  Some things never change.  On any given evening, you can find me, my husband, and Alexa (our baseball-addicted cat) watching St. Louis Cardinal baseball,  UK basketball, or a long-awaited NFL game.  Or you might find me noshing on snacks with a few of my daughters, watching “The Biggest Loser” (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this show!), Amazing Race, etc.   Another favorite recess activity is to spend time with our cats – when I can pull Alexa away from baseball, that is – and my daughter’s hamsters (Have you ever watched a hamster stuff its face full of food? Fascinating.).

I don’t consider ANY time spent with my husband, daughters, cats, or hamsters wasted.  Anything that makes you smile from your toes all the way to the tip of your head is time well spent.

However, there are plenty of activities that we all lose ourselves in on occasion – activities that sponge up our minutes and leave us with nothing to show for it. I suppose that, really, it’s an individual thing that each person has to determine for himself/herself.

Someone once said, “Every moment of one’s existence one is growing into more or retreating into less.”  I guess it’d be a good idea to hold each of our activities accountable:  Is the activity helping us grow or causing us to retreat?  Am I wasting my time or investing my time?  Can the St. Louis Cardinals win it all? –  Ah, the important questions of life.

The Shoe Company With Heart AND Sole

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Precious Child

I know where my next pair of shoes will come from.  In fact, I know where I’ll be doing a great deal of Christmas shopping!

Toms Shoes was founded with a simple yet beautiful premise: With every pair of shoes a customer (such as you, such as me…) buys, they give a pair of shoes to a precious child in need – like the little doll in the picture to the left (If there’s a person who can look at this picture and not get either a smile or a tear…or both… I hope I never meet them).

TOMS calls the process “One for One.”   I  just call it beautiful.

In their words: In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers. Since our beginning, TOMS has given over 140,000* pairs of shoes to children in need through the One for One model. Because of your support, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009. Our ongoing community events and Shoe Drop Tours allow TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be part of our One for One movement.

Some may ask, “Why shoes?” Simple. Most children in developing countries grow up barefoot – they don’t have the luxury of sneakers, sandals, houseshoes, etc. that other children have. Whether they are walking to school, doing their chores or playing, this puts them at risk. Keep in mind that these children often have to walk miles for food, water, shelter and medical help. Wearing shoes literally enables them to walk distances that aren’t possible barefoot. And with far, far, far less pain. Not only are the injuries to their little feet painful, they can become very dangerous if, and when, infection sets in.

The leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted parasites which penetrate the skin through open sores. Wearing shoes can prevent this and the risk of amputation.

There are even cases of children not being able to attend school because their school requires shoes as part of the uniform. If they don’t have shoes, they can’t go to school!

I hope other companies will see the steps TOMS is taking to improve the lives of others and will pave out their own path to a brighter tomorrow.

Give while you shop! For every pair of shoes you purchase from TOMS Shoes, another pair is given to a child in need. ONE FOR ONE.

Motivational Quotes About Focus

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Focus - Concentration Is The Secret Of Strength

Focus: Concentration is the secret of strength.

Excellence is in the details. Give attention to the details and excellence will come. – Perry Paxton

Our life always expresses the result of our dominant thoughts. – Soren Kierkegaard

When you focus on being a blessing, God makes sure that you are always blessed in abundance. – Joel Osteen

I think the one lesson I have learned is that there is no substitute for paying attention. – Diane Sawyer

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done. – Marie Curie

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. – Buddha

Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. – Anthony Robbins

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, that is way great spiritual giants are produced. – Swami Vivekananda

We can always choose to perceive things differently. You can focus on what’s wrong in your life, or you can focus on what’s right. – Marianne Williamson

Focus on your potential instead of your limitations. – Alan Loy McGinnis

I just try to concentrate on concentrating. – Martina Navratilova

I never did anything by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work. – Thomas Edison

More Quotes About Focus!

* The breathtakingly beautiful art print at the top of the post is by Brian Horisk. It features one of the most gorgeous, threatened, and misunderstood animals on earth, the wolf.

You can buy the Art Print at AllPosters.com. What a beauty!

Self Improvement: The Checks and Balances of Life

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“God says:  Take what you want and pay for it!” – Spanish Proverb

Author Dorothy Van Doren once wrote an entire article around the Spanish proverb above.  She wrote that when she first heard the proverb, it actually frightened her:  “I used to dream of an Angel with a flaming sword.  But as I thought more about it, I realized that the Angel held not a sword but a balance.”

Her eloquent illustration actually left more of an impact on me than the proverb, itself.

Imagine a scale for a minute.  On one side, we can put our heart’s desire – usually one of the ones listed below:

  • We want more money.
  • We want to lose weight.
  • We want a promotion.
  • We want more traffic to our web site or blog.
  • We want a closer relationship with our spouse.
  • We want our kids to be successful.

Irregardless of our own personal desires or needs, we have to realize that nothing is free in life.  I went to Target today and found the things I wanted:  cat food, sinus medicine, white grape juice, and bleach.  I put them into the cart one at a time and wheeled along my familiar path to the cashiers.  After placing my goods on the conveyor belt, I got out my billfold, after all the things I want come with a price tag (even though the one on the sinus medicine should have been ashamed of itself).

The process inside Target isn’t any different from the one outside Target.  Nothing comes free in life.  If we want to lose weight – there’s a price we have to pay.  We have to eat healthier foods and get more exercise.  It’s the exchange we make in order to have our heart’s desire.

If we want more web traffic, a job promotion, better relationships, or success in any area – we have to give in order to get.  This simple little truth is the basis of most self improvement and growth. No one’s going to come along and do the work for us and no one’s going to hand us everything we want wrapped in gold foil.

We can’t sit back and keep on doing what we’ve been doing – especially if it isn’t working.  If we “think” we’ve been doing enough (paying the price we need to pay) we might need a wake up call.  The bottom line is, if the price we’re paying isn’t achieving what we want, we’re pretty much counterfeiters.  We aren’t fooling anyone but ourselves.  The scales aren’t balanced because what we’re giving doesn’t weigh as much as what we want.

When we make the necessary adjustments and give as “good” as we hope to get – that’s the spot where magic happens and dreams come true.

The Senselessness of Dove Hunting Gives Me a Headache

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Dove

Seriously. Why do people hunt doves?  Why would anyone deliberately… for the sport of it… want to intentionally destroy something so completely innocent and helpless? Why want to take anything beautiful out of the world? Shouldn’t we want to bring more beauty INTO the world and work to KEEP the beautiful things around us. I just can’t wrap my head around getting all suited up, grabbing weapons of destruction and pain and heading off in pursuit of killing something.

Three mornings ago, I noticed  how full our front yard was with doves. There were quite a few cardinals, as always, but the beautiful symbol of peace seemed to be everywhere – enjoying the seeds, the crumbs, the scenery.  I grabbed a cup of coffee, went outside and just enjoyed the show. Since then, however, the fields surrounding our house have been full of gunfire – hunters blasting away at the silence and serenity. Not only do the trees (and yard) seem barren, we can’t even sit outside and enjoy nature.

It sounds like we’re on a Civil War battlefield.

Anyone who reads any of my blogs knows that every now and again, I let off a little steam – usually aimed at people who are bringing harm to children or animals. Eh, this is another instance of the steam and another instance of me trying to wrap my head around something that seems completely and utterly senseless.

Wolves, doves, bears… why hunt and kill anything you aren’t going to even eat? For crying out loud, take up golf or bowling. Play Madden Football. You know, something that doesn’t involve the loss of a life.

Rant over.  Steam released.