Tag Archives: Author

Instant Connection Of Hearts? Is It Possible?

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I had a wonderful day yesterday. This is my last day of visiting in the cities. I met a new friend in Kohl’s. It seems that when I come to the cities and I am out and about I get at least one hug from someone. This woman and I bonded over gaining weight, our grandchildren, God. We met over clothes and spent 45 minutes talking. We exchanged phone numbers and have even texted since then. We are going to meet again when I come back. We felt an instant connection. Have you ever had that happen to you? Both of us said that it was a God thing. I believe he always puts people in our lives right when we need them. friend thankful

 

Did You Hear What I Heard?

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Something About Nothing by Julie Seedorf – Published week of February 2, 2015rumour

Do you remember the telephone game? You would whisper something into someone’s ear and they would whisper what they heard to the person next to them. When it reached the end of the line what was whispered was repeated out loud to see how the words had changed and been misunderstood.

Recently I felt I might be in the middle of the telephone game. Actually the rumor, of which the subject was me, was caused by a misunderstanding with technology, namely the phone and texting.

It started with an early morning text I received from a friend in a city 100 miles away. The text said, “Are you OK?” Puzzled I answered, “Yes, why?” The reply was, “No reason, I just heard something.” My reply: “What did you hear?” The next text explained, “I heard you moved to the Cities.”

Thinking nothing of it and laughing about it, I continued on with my day until I received a message on Facebook from another friend. “Are you OK? Just wanted to make sure you were all right.” I was puzzled so I replied, “I am fine but this is the second text I received asking me the same question.” My friend texted me back and explained, “We heard you moved out and moved to the Cities.”

I thought that was interesting. My husband and I had both been spending a great deal of time in the Cities with our kids and enjoying the summer. At this point I laughed and thought about how rumors spread. Everyone that knows me should know I am an open book. If I would have moved to the Cities everyone would have known it. I didn’t make it any secret we were spending time in the Cities, but somehow that changed into my moving out and moving to the Cities.

This is where it gets complicated. Apparently the rumor came from a friend in Alaska who visited my community this summer while I was in the Cities. I checked back through my texts to this person and saw what might have been misconstrued. I would love to move to the Cities someday. I did state that in my texts to this person. I also stated I was spending time in the Cities. And I used the word “I” not “we.” A friend was getting a divorce, and I was spending time with them, too.

I don’t blame my friend from Alaska, and I don’t blame my friends here for the rumor. Thankfully they decided to check on me. I blame the fast pace of our world where we quickly text a message and we quickly read a message and don’t catch the entire wording or meaning. I do that all the time. A text comes in, and I quickly glance at it. I quickly answer and don’t check my walking fingers to see if my cell phone interpreted it right. The same thing happens with technology as did with the telephone game. The message changes the longer our fingers walk over those keys and our eyes bounce over the words.

It was my laugh for the day. I wonder how many things we misconstrue that we overhear or read in the media. We used to have a party line on our phone. For you young things out there, a party line is somewhat like group messaging or group calls. Most of the time we didn’t know anyone was listening. Or they didn’t know we were listening. Back then, if you wanted the good gossip, you turned to your phone when you heard it ring for your neighbor. You then put your hand over the receiver and gently lifted it up so they couldn’t hear that you were on.

Today, everyone knows you’re listening. Today we broadcast truth and rumor and let the chips fall where they may.  It is hard to tell the difference between fact and fiction. There are some pretty outlandish stories out there that are true. There are some boring stories told on your neighbors that are not. How do we differentiate fact from fiction? The Internet is rife with stories true and false, there is a fact-checker website called Snopes that sets us straight if — we are interested in finding out the truth about some of those stories floating around.

I must admit I am not any different than anyone else and my ears perk up when I hear bits and pieces of conversations about someone else. I think that is human nature.

That I know of, no one was hurt by the rumor floating around that I had moved to the Cities. My friends decided to check out the facts. They did the right thing. Had they not and I not become aware of the rumor, maybe there would have been repercussions.

The Internet and news media have made it easy for lives to be ruined by rumors. Right or wrong, great men and women have been brought down, lost jobs and had lives destroyed by unsubstantiated rumors. We have lost teenagers because of rumors. It is time all of us take responsibility and figure out whether the rumor we heard should be shared. Will it help or will it hurt? What will the words sound and feel like at the end of the rumor tree?

 

Have You Made Your Life List?

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life listI have made lists the last couple of weeks trying to become more organized. It is hard for this creative person to organize. It seems I never can find anything when things are organized. List making is helping me stick to my tasks during the day.  There are many things that distract me from the tasks I need to do that I don’t like to do. Because my mind is always creating I turn to  the fun tasks on my list first and because of the fun tasks, the tasks I dread never get done until the last minute.

As I gazed  at the books on my book shelves this morning I came across the book in the above picture by Sterling Publishing. Finding this book also coincided with a free book I downloaded by Ruth Soukup from Living Well, Spending Less. It is a free goal setting workbook. I thought it might help me on my journey to pay off my debt and get more organized. One of the first things it tells you to do is to list your priorities. The book advises us to list what actually matters to us the most.

How many of us make lists that actually list what matters to us most as a priority? If I did that my list might be something like this: 1. God  2.Family  3.Health and the daily every day living tasks would follow somewhere down the line. Do you get the picture? Instead, my list today is pay bills, work on budget, website, end of year taxes, buy groceries, organize, interviews for the paper. There are only a couple of the tasks on that list that I enjoy doing.

I looked at my former lists and no where on those lists does it list me, play time, relaxation, time with family, playing with my shysters, writing, which are all enjoyable activities that relax me. When I make a list I am very focused on the list. At the end of the day I feel like I have accomplished something. It leaves me tired and in need of a recharge. There are days I need a recharge before I start my list and my tasks on that list.

It doesn’t feel like a coincidence that at the same time I read the goal setting workbook I found My Life List book on my book shelf.  I also am reading a book on my Kindle by Diane Moody called Confessions of a Prayer Slacker. The book subject is prayer and Moody lists excuses why we don’t pray. Whether you are a prayerful person or not, Moody’s thoughts may hit home. Somehow we’ve equated “busyness” with accomplishment and success. She focuses on the lists we make and the things we rush through to get through the day. This observation resonated with me as I feel guilty much of the time watching my busy friends do all they do for the church, and the community, and I don’t. I don’t want the stress I see in some of them. In the busyness of their lives I never see my friends unless engaging in their activities because they are too busy for lunch with a friend. I feel guilty because I have opted out of much of that and the drama that sometimes goes with it. Perhaps Diane Moody hit the nail on the head when she states, “Have you ever tried to drive your car when the gas gauge reads empty?”

Experiences described in the books I am reading make me look at my list differently. I am making a list and checking it twice but my list is my biggest vice. Perhaps my list and it’s priorities need changing so I can refuel at the beginning of the day before I start my journey down the road to the tasks that drain my tank.

Another little bit of advice from the workbook  was to Eat the Frog. Apparently Mark Twain once said, ““Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” The book advises that if you start the day eating the frog and doing the toughest and hardest task, the rest of the day will be a piece of cake.

For me it is hard prioritizing my list to put the things that matter the most to me ahead of the busyness and the worldly tasks that we need to do to survive in this world and not let the expectations of others determine my list. Perhaps if I eat the frog on putting the important priorities in my life first instead of leaving them last, II would have enough fuel for the tasks that make me crazy. Putting what matters to us most, our lives and our families first, should not be an eat the frog but for some reason for many of us that is the hardest task of the day.

What does my list say about me? What does your list say about you?