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Guided by prompts from WDC blogging challenges... and of course, life |
HI! I'm Jenn - and I'm all over the place (well, at least my mind is). In this blog, I have attempted to gather my thoughts on things prompted/inspired by WDC blogging challenges from "Journalistic Intentions"  , "The Soundtrack of Your Life" , "Blogging Circle of Friends " , "30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS" and, well, LIFE.    |
| Day 3227: September 14, 2021 I haven't been posting much recently for BCOF due to time demands, life, etc. Doctors have me running ragged this week and last week. But, since I woke early today, I have time to respond to today's prompt - and what a wonderful prompt to be able to write about! Prompt: Write about patience. Do you have a favorite quote about this subject you would like to share? Patience is something I did not have much of until the last couple of years. I suppose most are impatient in their youth though. And sometimes, I still get impatient - like last night when I was starving and the chicken I was cooking seemed to take forever. I probably checked on the chicken's progress every five minutes. - But, patience is a virtue (that's what they say, right?). We learn it as we age, as we go through periods of life we wish would be over in the blink of an eye, but once we're on the other side, we know the waiting was worth it. And, the longer we are alive, the shorter time seems to proceed. It is like we earn patience with age. God wants us to have patience. There are many verses in the bible which counsel us on the virtue of patience. The bible says in Philippians 4:6, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." In Ecclesiastes 7:8, it states, “The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride.” And Proverbs 15:18, “Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace.” - James 5:8 “You also must be patient. Keep your hopes high, for the day of the Lord’s coming is near.” "But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." - Romans 8:25 This is but a taste of what the Lord says about patience. But the bible isn't the only place you can find quotes praising patience. The teachings of the Buddha do as well. “There is no error greater than hatred. And nothing mightier than patience. So I strive in every way to learn patience.” – Buddha. As do the teachings of many other religious heads and great thinkers. Here are but a few: “Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind.” — Leonardo da Vinci “If you can cultivate the right attitude, your enemies are your best spiritual teachers because their presence provides you with the opportunity to enhance and develop tolerance, patience and understanding.” — Dalai Lama XIV And Lao Tzu said, “Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Have the patience to wait! Be still and allow the mud to settle.” There is a Chinese proverb that says this about patience, “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” “If you have infinite patience and perseverance, success is bound to come. No mistake in that.” – Swami Vivekananda Molière said, “A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.” And remember, "Patience is a key element of success." & “A man who masters patience masters everything else.” |
PROMPT September 14th What is the worst movie you have seen? Tell us why you consider it the worst. The worst "movie" I have ever seen is still "Team America: World Police" Having puppets in the show instead of people was bad enough. But when the puppet sex began, I left the room and never watched the rest of it. Puppets are for kids. They shouldn't be having sex... Ugh! And now I have that picture stuck in my head again. I want to go sterilize my brain. ARGH!! |
PROMPT September 13th Who do you see as role model of yours, either a professional or 'everyday' person, and why should everyone else know about this person? My role models: My grandma. She's 91 and still going strong. She might be blind in one eye and on up there in age, but nothing stops her from doing what she wants to do! She's lived a hard life too and has never once lost the zest for it. Five kids, cancer, loss of her husband, nothing has been able to slow hew down. She's always been one tough cookie and kind, honest (blunt is probably a better word), and a go-getter. In my eyes there is no one more deserving of being a role model. My husband is also a role model to me. He works to support us both, takes care of me when I get really sick, puts up with my Bipolar swings, and still manages to look at me with a smile on his face and love in his eyes. I'm really lucky I have them both in my life. |
PROMPT September 12th What part of your life has been disrupted the most by the stay at home orders? What have you done to adapt to spending more time at home? The stay at home order has not really disrupted my life. I am not really a social person, so distancing and the stay at home order practically didn't affect me at all. Covid-19 did though. I was a teacher. Loved teaching. But I also have some disabilities. Amongst them are some which affect my immune system. Because of these immune problems and the constant threat of the virus, I no longer am able to teach. As the potential of me getting sick would not just affect me, it would also put a strain on the school for which I worked, since they would have to hire someone to substitute my classes until I got better. The school decided they'd cut their losses before they happened - so they cut me from the payroll. But, it turns out that was probably a good thing. I have had so many doctor appointments since this pandemic began that I would have had to take off too often had I been working. Blessings come in all disguises. Since I have been home so much and have all this free time on my hands, I have been able to write more. I write a lot. And I have had time to look inside myself to find what is really important. Time to reflect and come to terms with my health, and to learned to appreciate my relationships and my life that much more. And I have had more time for my animals and plants. My quiet, happy existence. |
PROMPT September 11th What were you doing 20 years ago today? Of the events that transpired, what memory stays with you, almost haunts you? Twenty years ago, 9/11/2001, a day that will live in infamy for the US and many other countries of the world. I was working at the pawn shop that my husband and I ran. Our three month old daughter was in her bouncy chair behind the counter. Work being a pawn shop, we had plenty of TVs and about five of them were plugged in and turned on. Every channel cut from normal programming with urgent news at about the same time. They show the first plane crashing into the tower. Chaos is seen over the airwaves. At first, it was just a strange happening. Then the second tower was hit by another plane. My husband calls and asks if I was watching, wild with worry and bewilderment. The baby started crying, maybe she sensed my unease. We thought the world might be coming to an end - and in a way it was. I contacted the owner of the pawn shop and was given the okay to close the shop for the day, so I locked the doors, wrote a note and taped it to the door while I waited for my husband to come and get the two of us. Before he could get there, I had a handful of people rattle the doors wanting to buy guns. I had to tell them through locked door that we were not going to open for the day due to what had just happened. I was frightened, we all were. I remember seeing the fear and confusion of all those people in New York as they ran screaming away from the towers as the explosions began and they started to collapse. We went home, turned on the television, and watched the chaos unfold before our eyes as we hid from the world, an entire country away from ground zero. And I prayed. There was nothing else I could do. Word Count: 342 |
DAY 3223 September 10, 2021 Use these words in your entry: designate, participate, contemplate, mandate, separate and one other word that rhymes to create an interesting short story or poem. Alrighty, here's my go at this prompt...I used more than one additional "-ate" word though... I would appreciate if you would contemplate to possibly designate a person to create a written mandate in which it states a person must separate from the upcoming debate if they won't fully participate |
PROMPT September 10th What qualities do you value most in yourself? List at least three of them and tell us why you have these values. Qualities...let me see...I'm not really big on promoting my own self but I'll give it the old college try... so I will go with some of the qualities others have told me they see in me... 1. Empathy - I really do feel what others feel. Their pain wrenches my heart, their elation makes my spirit soar. It can be hard on me, but God made me this way so I could help others and I am definitely going to use my gifts! 2. Grateful - If I was not grateful for God's blessings in life - and life itself - I would not be me. To be grateful for the small things in life, for life, and even for the lessons learned in the bad times - that's when we are most at peace with our lives and who we are. Living in pain is tolerable but I don't want to die an unhappy person. 3. Generous - I am generous to a fault. I tend to give so much of myself and my time, I have been known to lose track of my own needs and problems. It also sets me up to be used over and over again (which probably contributes to my withdrawal from most of the physical world). But my nature is a gift from God. He made me this way for a purpose bigger than I know or can comprehend. And I have also been told that I must be brave and courageous to live the life I have been dealt. But what's the other option? Killing myself would be a cop-out. I just make due with what I've been given and am grateful for every single day I wake to see a new dawn. There are a few more people have said too, once I think about it. Honest (you could say blunt), kind, understanding, open minded, responsible, trustworthy, reliable, modest, humble, etc... But most of all, I'm ME. There's no one else I'd rather be. |
DAY 3222 September 9, 2021 “Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.”― Terry Pratchett Discuss this quote in your entry. I think I have already discussed this topic before, or maybe I just dreamed it, but in any case here we go... Generally, if I go away, I have no intention on coming back. But in those cases where I do, those places usually appear darker, more threatening. Maybe my memories are just sunshine and rainbows, I don't know. When I returned to my old hometown, there was a different ambiance about the place, other than the inevitable changes time has on places. The buildings seemed to crowd me, I felt like the people looked at me judgingly. How do the people see me? Do they still see me as the cheerful girl I pretended to be? Do they see me as the outcast I felt I was? Are they still spreading rumors about me? Do they believe that the old rumors are true? Do they look at me, wistfully longing that they had gotten out of that small town too? Do they hate me because I was able to escape? People who were once my confidants had become strangers. Awkward, uncomfortable silences abounded. Some sneered, some tried to strike up a conversation, still others avoided me completely. It is true, "coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving." I wouldn't change my life path for another if I were able. But sometimes, I have to wonder who would I be if I had never left that little town of 150 in the middle-of-nowhere Texas. Would I still be as miserable as I was when I left? Would I still be afraid to show the real me? But you know, others made it out too. And some of those are lifelong friends. Sometimes, your roots rise up and move with you.\ Word Count: 357 |
PROMPT September 9th Everyone seems to be pretty health conscious in today's world. What health tips have worked for you. If you can't think of any, or are like me and haven't pursued any, what would you like to do to improve your health? Health tips...Don't get sick? (Just kidding) Now to be serious, I have never been one to diet or try those fleeting health trends. I have always eaten what I want when I want. And for a while I drank a lot of soda and sweet tea (I am from Texas after all) I can tell you from experience, cutting out the sodas and weaning myself from the sweet tea was the best thing I ever did for myself. When I cut out those drinks, I replaced them with good old fashioned H2O - water - the elixir of life, sometimes adding some lemon juice for flavor. Increasing my water intake helped more than I could have imagined. I felt better and was also able to sleep better at night since I had cut out the caffeine. Another thing, I have always eaten a lot of fruits and vegetables. Many of these really do help aid in digestion, which will allow for a healthier lifestyle. HOWEVER, being on blood thinners, I am no longer allowed to eat any green vegetables and as a result, I have seen an increase in my weight within the last six months. So, if you can eat them and can stomach them, do it! Of course, being active can also help you toward a healthy lifestyle. If you aren't able to get up and run or work out, try a leisurely walk or going swimming. If you are chair or bed bound, find some gentle activities you can do within your confines. Those stretchy exercise bands help in cases like that. But being healthy isn't just physical. It is mental too. Too much stress is hard on your mind and body. So find ways of destressing - doing something active is a great way to do that as well. Just some thoughts for a start... Word Count: 352 |
Day 3221: September 8, 2021 Prompt: “Autumn seemed to arrive suddenly that year. The morning of the first September was crisp and golden as an apple.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Use this quote to inspire you blog entry or describe autumn where you live. Second Summer has settled upon us, the slightest of reprieves from the Texas heat. Rumors of cooler weather reach us from the North, but our respite hinges on the whims of the weather and blows away just as quickly. We know that fall has begun. There has been an increase in wind and skeins of geese can be observed flying overhead, headed to their wintering lands. They leave piles of droppings to mark where they landed for rest and drink. The leaves are beginning to show a tinge of yellow around their edges and hints of fungi can be smelled wafting in the ever present wind, promises of more to come. Stores have begun to set out their fall and Halloween wares; the candy an enticement to my sweet-tooth, the decorations showing us how Autumn looks elsewhere. We'll get to that point, eventually; right before Winter sets in. Word Count: 196 |
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You're so right, they are definitely perceptive. They know when you need extra attention, and they know when to keep an eye out for you. They are definitely a blessing from God.
