Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Big News Stories of my Childhood & Embracing The Breakdown

30 Day Blogging Challenge

The Wildcard Round! Today's winner, as chosen by Virtual Dice from all eligible entries at some point over the weekend, will receive a News MB.
What's the first big news story you remember being aware of as a kid? (For reference, mine I think was John Lennon's murder, and I was five years old...but a one-sentence answer isn't a blog entry .)

As a kid I was pretty oblivious. I lived in a small northern Ontario farming community. The biggest thing I knew about was Quebec Separatism stuff... and that was only from the adults that heard it.

Oh and the forest fire that took out Cobalt in 1977. I think there was even a write up in the Readers Digest. This was a big thing because it effected people I knew. Our gym teacher lost his house and everything he owned. I remember the school taking up a collection for his family. It started with a cigarette butt thrown carelessly into a pile of trash! And people wonder why I glare at them when they toss their cigarette butts away.
It also got my grandmother talking of her own experiences when she was a child. The fear and helplessness she and her own family felt living in the middle of nowhere with no access to transportation to get safely away. She survived two such fires.

http://www.nugget.ca/2011/05/24/terrible-fires-shaped-tri-towns-john-r-hunts-on-...
http://www.ottertooth.com/Temagami/History/fire-1977.htm


This is an article about the 1922 fire... my grandma was in the farms by the Quebec border.
http://salvationist.ca/2012/10/remembering-the-great-fire-of-1922/

Love Louder - Amplifying My Life

I have decided as part of my blog to comment on each of Preston Smiles's ways to Love Louder. He has written an intriguing little book or 33 Ways To Amplify Your Life. The full title is Love Louder: 33 Ways To Amplify Your Life.


Day 9 - Embrace The Breakdown: Turning Own Wounds Into Wisdom

"In life there will be moments of pain and what seem to be insurmountable obstacles, but when you embrace those breakdowns, you can turn your wounds into wisdom."

Things can be difficult and seem darkly disturbing, but the "first step n turning your wounds into wisdom is switching your focus from what's not working to what is." There is no point in obsessing over the situation... instead, turn that same energy into focusing on a solution. Aim our energies toward what we desire and learn from those mistakes.

Preston Smiles gives five ways to handle a breakdown:
1.Don't blame anyone outside yourself, no matter how severe it is. Blaming stops the healing and makes you a victim of the person you are blaming... don't give them that power.

2.Don't beat yourself up for feeling what you feel or doing what you did, it only makes things worse.

3.Don't overthink or analyze it or your will drive yourself crazy. Instead tell yourself: "I accept this pain, for it is here to teach me something I need to know." Give yourself permission to feel what you feel... let the feelings have a vent.

4.Don't try to numb the pain by distracting yourself with alcohol or food or whatever your choose to hide behind.

5.After you have let yourself fully feel the experience of the breakdown, figure out what you desire out of the situation and what that will take from you to achieve it. What can you learn? What can you take away from this experience? For those dealing with a breakup.... remember the good times, forgive the bad, and begin to send him/her well wishes.

"Some of the most painful situations produce some of the most beautiful experiences."
"The practice is to see the opportunity in the midst of the pain." Let the pain be your teacher and instead of letting the situation break you, let it make you. Have the experiences motivate you and inspire you to look a little deeper... and you may find the key to your freedom.

A song that would help me remember this would be:


Kutless - That's What Faith Can Do
Overcome the odds
You don't have a chance
(That's what faith can do)
When the world says you can't
It'll tell you that you can

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
And I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do
That's what faith can do

Even if you fall sometimes
You will have the strength to rise

full lyrics: https://play.google.com/music/preview/Trxhmwayuf2c55mvoj6h4pbwe4i?lyrics=1&utm_s...