Melting Snow

The Last Tuesday in November 2016

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Louisa May Alcott
was born on this day in 1832;
she received training from writers
such as Thoreau, Emerson and Hawthorne.

The prompt for "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" 
What do you do to keep yourself in a positive state of health mentally and emotionally?

During the autumn and winter it's a little more difficult for me to stay in a positive emotional mood then during the spring and summer. This year, keeping a positive mood in November more difficult then usual. Part of the problem is that my mother died on November 29, 2012. A few days ago, one of the young men in the neighborhood was killed when he tried to rob the drug dealer who lived in apartment 7. The drug dealer's sister drug the young man's body out of the apartment and into the alley. As if that isn't enough to throw me into the pit of depression, this morning I logged onto Facebook to find out that my sister-in-law (my brother's ex-wife and mother of three of his children) died sometime last night.

How do I keep a positive attitude? Prayer, writing, and laughing. These are the three things that I'm sure will change my attitude from negative to positive. Other things that help are chocolate, coffee, and pleasant surprises. I received several pleasant surprises yesterday. When I went to the mailbox after the postal delivery person came, I found a Christmas card from a writing.com friend. In addition, I received several merit badges yesterday.

The "Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"  prompt for DAY 994
In The Treatise of Tahlan, an ancient treatise for samurais, Paulo Coelho says, “The more we feel we are in control, the farther we are from controlling anything at all. A threat gives no warning, and a quick reaction cannot be programmed like a walk on Sunday afternoon. So if you want to be in harmony with your love or with your fight, learn to react fast.”
How good are you in reacting fast? How good are the characters you create? Do you ever think about their reaction time?

I learned long ago that I'm not in control of anything except the way I respond emotionally to a situation and even then I'm not sure how well I control my emotional responses. The biggest misconceptions human beings have is that they are in control, which isn't true in most situations. I've found the best response to any situation (I'm still working on this) is to let go and place the situation in God's hands. As for my characters, I'm fairly sure that some of them tend to take control of the plot.

The "Blogging Circle of Friends "  prompt for DAY 1475
Oh no....Your camera has images on it that you haven't taken. Tell us all about what you discovered.

The explanations I like.

Memory lapse.
Time warp.
Ghost taking control of the camera.
Is it my camera or someone else's?
Practical joke by aliens from another planet.