Help Savannah reach her goal! http://honor.americanheart.org/site/TR?px=3093108&pg=personal&fr_id=1690&et=uyHd3FPLndIFrQldBwzfxQ&s_tafId=119396

Copied from a Facebook post...

50 Lessons I wish I'd learned earlier:
http://www.positivelypositive.com/2012/01/14/50-lessons-i-wish-i-had-learned-earlier-blog/

1. You’re stronger than you think you are.
2. Mistakes teach you important lessons. Every time you make one, you’re one step closer to your goal.
3. There is nothing to hold you back except you.
4. You can press forward long after you can’t. It’s a matter of wanting it bad enough.
5. No matter how much progress you make there will always be the people who insist that whatever you’re trying to do is impossible.
6. You are limited only by your own imagination. Let it fly.
7. Perception is reality.
8. Your instincts can be trusted.
9. There is only one question to ask yourself: “What would you do if you were not afraid?”
10. It’s often hard to tell just how close you are to success.
11. The only mistake that can truly hurt you is choosing to do nothing simply because you’re too scared to make a mistake.
12. Never let success get to your head, and never let failure get to your heart.
13. You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life.
14. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
15. Do what you love, not what you think you’re supposed to do.
16. Laughter is the best medicine for stress. Laugh at yourself often.
17. If you want to feel rich, just count all the great things you have that money can’t buy.
18. Forgiving yourself is far more important than getting others to forgive you.
19. If you awake every morning with the thought that something wonderful will happen in your life today, you’ll often find that you’re right.
20. Be nice to yourself.
21. For the most part, it doesn’t matter what people think. Follow your own truth.
22. No education is wasted. Drink in as many new experiences as you can.
23. Making one person smile can change the world.
24. Don’t forget to enjoy your journey!
25. You never know how strong you really are until being strong is the only choice you have.
26. Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.
27. You cannot change what you refuse to confront.
28. Crying doesn’t indicate that you’re weak. It doesn’t always solve your problems either.
29. No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
30. Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain.
31. You can learn great things from your mistakes when you aren’t busy denying them.
32. Give up worrying about what others think of you.
33. When you stop chasing the wrong things you give the right things a chance to catch you.
34. You have to accept that some things will never be yours, and learn to appreciate the things that are only yours.
35. As Henry Ford put it, “Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are right.”
36. Don’t be afraid to move out of your comfort zone. Some of your best life experiences and opportunities will transpire only after you dare to lose.
37. Giving up doesn’t always mean you’re weak, sometimes it means you are strong enough and smart enough to let go.
38. You’ll rarely be 100% sure it will work. But you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.
39. Don’t dwell on the past or worry about the future for too long. Right now is life. Live it.
40. No matter how cautiously you choose your words, someone will always twist them around and misinterpret what you say. Just say what you need to say.
41. Not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of good luck.
42. If you are passionate about something, pursue it, no matter what anyone else thinks. That’s how dreams are achieved.
43. If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’ll keep getting what you’re getting.
44. What lies before us and behind us are tiny matters when compared to what lies within us.
45. Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.
46. It’s not about getting a chance, it’s about taking a chance.
47. If it were easy everyone would do it.
48. Be vulnerable.
49. A problem is a chance for you to learn.
50. Regardless of the situation, life goes on.

Achoo, it's Tuesday

1. Since I was off yesterday, today felt like Monday. But I see it is time to think again. Doing this weekly is giving my brain some exercise.

2. We were in Richmond VA all weekend for a huge volleyball tournament. There were 48 courts with games happening each hour. You can't imagine the noise. Since I have a cold and my ears are stopped up, it was even worse.

3. Good part is Savannah's team won their division! We were all happy when we realized the worst they could finish going into Monday was third. Since they were up against the two biggest clubs around (one from Raleigh and one from Charlotte) we were glad of that third place guarantee. But they beat both of those clubs to win it all!

4. Makes being sick, in hotels, on the road, not seem quite so miserable.

5. Yes, I worked today but tomorrow I'm going in late. I took two Nyquil tablets and had some Bailey's over ice... so if I doze off in the middle of this, you'll know where I went!

6. Two more weeks and I'll be packing for Belize. I'm excited, and also a little nervous. I don't like leaving my girl for a week- plus, I'm going to be missing two volleyball tournaments!

7. I came home today with the intentions of taking some cold medicine and taking a nap. I fell asleep before I could take the medicine. Guess I needed the sleep, huh?

8. I hate being sick. Luckily it doesn't happen much. My ears hurt from the pressure and it is making my teeth hurt.

9. I was supposed to go to weight watchers tonight. Guess they're going to have to see me next week. I had lost 5 lbs as of last week. I'm hoping being sick (and not paying attention) doesn't hurt too much.

10. Why is it that food is a comfort? All I wanted today was soup, bread, and potatoes. Comfort food.

T3- From Romeo and Juliet to Ghostly Girls

The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,
And the continuance of their parents' rage,
Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,
Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
What here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

1. I'm thinking about language tonight. Savannah has to memorize the prologue to Romeo and Juliet. It is hard to read, but wonderful to dive into the richness of a language that we have lost. Have you ever thought of all the words we don't use anymore? I doubt if anyone in Shakespearean England ever said "say what?"

2. I love my Kindle. Not only because I could just go there and download and begin to read right away, but also because of the built-in dictionary. If I am unsure of a meaning, I just put the cursor right before the word and the definition pops up. I've used this feature a lot, because I usually know enough about the word to not actually have to look it up in a dictionary, but with this handy tool, I can be sure of every nuance of the word.

3. While I was downloading Romeo and Juliet, I also downloaded A Midsummer Night's Dream. That is my favorite! Probably because I love the mischievous Puck, but I also love how the humans sleep while the fairies mess with their lives!

4. Ok, so I know there are no such things as fairies... or are there? Don't you know there is more out there than what we can see? A friend sent me a picture of a ghost today. If I didn't know the girl who sent it, I wouldn't believe that it was a real, undoctored picture. But it was. A ghost- right there.  See her?



5. Yes, I do believe in ghosts. I don't know why they're here- I hate to think you could get "stuck" here after you die- but I know the Bible talks about them. And there are demons- that is even more scary. Because you really can't believe in one and not the other.

6. Then there are angels. Not the fluffy, dress-wearing, harp-playing ones, but the heavenly army, armed to do the work of God. That might be scarier than the ghosts!

7. So what else- aliens? You'd have to work a little harder to convince me of their existence in a pop-culture way. No little green men showing up to do medical experiments on me! But I do believe that there is life "out there" - I mean, look how vast the universe is! And you're going to tell me that we're the only intelligent life? (And I could argue the intelligence of some people some days!)

8. And of course, those of you who know me know that I believe in God, and in Jesus. Their existence doesn't depend on my belief, but my existence certainly depends on them!

9. So yes, it is dangerous to get me started thinking. My mind spirals off in countless directions. Aren't you glad you read this far?

10. It is bedtime. I've been having issues with sleep- mostly, I'm tired until it is time to go to bed and then I'm up until 11:30 or so. I need to be asleep an hour before that! I guess I haven't recovered from turning the clocks back. Maybe that is good- we'll be in Belize in 4 weeks and on central time for awhile. Maybe that will help straighten my sleep patterns out!

Yada yada...

I don't like New Year's resolutions. I think they're wonderful for about a week, then they mean nothing. Yeah, I need to lose weight, spend less money, exercise more... but I need to do that all year long, not just at the beginning of the year!

However, I do think the new year is a time for new beginnings. It can be a catalyst for change if you let it. So I've been thinking about what I want to do differently in 2012 besides the usual. And I drew a blank.... until today.

I noticed that a friend was going to be in town this week who I haven't seen in almost 25 years (we figured spring of 1987 was the last time.) This is a fellow saxophone major who left college in our sophomore year to try to make it big in New York City. We kept in touch for a year between several friends, but most of us lost touch afterward. Facebook has made us friends again.

John (pictured above) made it in "the biz" and is touring with the Broadway road tour of "Memphis." They're in Charlotte this week so he and I made plans to meet for lunch today. Part of me didn't want to go- it meant driving (and parking) in downtown Charlotte, taking about 4 hours of my day off, and chancing meeting a friend who I may find out I didn't really know after all.

But I shouldn't have even worried about it at all! We had a blast- found a wonderful soul food restaurant and spent 3 hours catching up, possibly sharing details of our lives that we wouldn't share with people we were in contact with every day. It was like those 25 years weren't there between us and we were able to just fall back into a friendship that has existed all that time. 

So I think this could be something to work toward in 2012- reconnecting with people. I don't know who or when, but somehow I shouldn't let 25 years go by if I can help it. I need to take a chance and step out there, make some contacts, and see what I can put together. And it may mean meeting some online people in person, too. Since Susan and I spent a day with her family in Dollywood 2 years ago, I haven't connected with anyone else online. And I understand that Eby Jo and Bill and Karen had fun today in Kentucky- so it can be done!

I don't know where and how, but I'd love to take some day trips to those of you close enough. Or try to take a vacation close to some friends. I'll have to give it more thought, but this is more than one of those resolutions that will be gone in a week. Even if it is another year before I see anyone, it will be a step forward.