Welcome to Our Personal Blog

WAKE UP AND BE GRATEFUL

Now, if ever, is a time to reflect upon one’s blessings.  Did I say blessings?  I most certainly did.  Some people ask me how do I keep such a positive outlook during these dismal times.  My response?  “How can I do anything BUT?”

You see, I grew up in the military–moving every 15 months or so, never setting down “roots”, not making any “life-long” friends, living in “temporary military housing–sleezy motels”, riding the public bus system to school in Oakland, CA at the age of 13, and spending most of that time with just my Mom and 2 sisters as my step-dad was serving this country during Vietnam.  I watched and learned from my Mom what the word “perseverance” really means.  I learned how to change a flat tire, the oil in our car with my Mom teaching me, gap a spark plug, mow the grass, cook, clean the house, iron clothes, and most of all, how to laugh and be positive through it all.  As an aside, my Mom is a polio survivor–since she was 7.  She has severe scoliosis and stands a mere 4′8″ tall–but has worked her entire life, sometimes 2-3 jobs at a time.  She is one of the most positive and inspirational women I know!

When I wake up in the mornings, I am so grateful for a soft bed, a warm home, the sun shining in through the windows, hearing the birds chirping and singing, and for my awesome husband.  I am grateful to wake up in my “right mind”, to have not 1 but 2 pair of slippers to wear, to open the refrigerator and see food in it, to look out my windows and stand in awe at the majesty of the Sierra Nevada mountains, to live only 12 miles from beautiful Lake Tahoe, to have money to pay the bills, to have a servant’s heart.  I am grateful for email–to be able to communicate with my son, his super wife, and my grandson Caleb in seconds, and grateful for my daughter, her husband, and my grandson Anthony and granddaughter Jenessa who live 5 miles from me.

Yes, times are certainly difficult.  Finances are rocky, people are losing their homes (including REALTORS!), the unemployment rate is high, and businesses are closing.  All true, all heart-breaking.  But we cannot give up, lose faith, or bury our heads in the sand.  There is a Master plan, and change is certain. 

So what can we do?  There is no shame in taking a risk, only in doing nothing, right?  So WHEN we fall, fall forward.  At least we’re making progress!