Touching Your Heart

Life is good, comparatively speaking that is…so take care of you!

Over the years, I have been the type of person to say “geez, my life is really good compared to those poor people who just had to deal with yadda yadda yadda”.  OR “I guess I should be happy because there are so many people truly suffering in this world”.  Do you get my drift?  And on those occasions when I would discount my own ‘situation’, a wonderful friend of mine would remind me that even though my situation may seem trivial in the whole scheme of things, it is still important.  My friend would remind me that if it is important to me, than it can effect me and even though it is nothing like a catastrophic epidemic in a 3^rd world country… it is okay for me to be sad or upset about ‘my situation’.  In the long run, if we don’t address our situations on a personal level than we are not taking care of ourselves. 

Now don’t get me wrong, every once in a while I do need to take that step back and control my worry wart self.  If I have left the house that morning worrying about what my 5 year old is going to wreck at daycare (because of a carefully planned morning full of arguing and tears) and then I hear about a prayer request for a young child battling for their life in a hospital …I step back, take a deep breath and say my life is good, thank you God! 

So here is how I have decided to handle those ‘comparatively speaking’ scenarios:  I am not going to discount the importance of my problem at the moment, but take that moment to appreciate the wonderful life I have been handed.  And maybe after that, my outlook will change for the better and give me the strength to handle ‘my situation’.

True friends can go long periods of time without speaking, never question their friendship

and pick up like they just spoke yesterday regardless of how long it’s been.

A note from Jodi:

I took this from a friend’s Facebook post but I have heard it many times before and it continues to be one of my favorites.

It is so true!! I personally feel this way and I sure hope my dear friends AND family do too, because that is how I operate! I am terrible at keeping in touch. Well, maybe not terrible, but I go in spurts that’s for sure. I do great for a while, and then life happens and before I know it, it has been way too long since the last time I chatted with someone I love.

I must admit, I do best keeping in touch via email, texting and Facebook! Yep! It’s the truth. I do not like to talk on the phone and most of my friends and family know that; however, I have been gently reminded that sometimes it is just nice to hear a voice on the other end. (I do try to keep this in mind.)

And so on that note, to all of my friends and family, I love you!!!  (I should be good for a few days now, right?-LOL)

Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall.

Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll.

~Author Unknown

Happy Birthday in Heaven Ma Braun!

A note from Jodi:

Hi everyone….today would have been/is Ma (Kathy) Braun’s birthday. She is celebrating yet another birthday in heaven this year and I choose to picture her in heaven with a smile on her face surrounded with her family and friends whom she has joined. I know she would want us to live our lives exactly as the quote above says, as that is exactly how she lived her life.

Those of you who have followed our blog and those who know me well, know how very important Ma was to me and what a difference she made in my life. She taught me so much about life and living and I will never forget all that she did for me. I continue to miss her dearly, but I take comfort in the fact that I believe she is at peace and that she can hear me when I talk to her, and that she IS here for me (and all of us), just in a different way.

To all of Ma’s family and friends, I pray for the ability for you to count your garden by the flowers and to count your life by the smiles.

Happy Birthday, Ma! We all love and miss you

“Appreciate everything your associates do for the business.  Nothing else can quite substitute for a few well-chosen, well-timed, sincere words of praise.  They’re absolutely free and worth a fortune.”

~Sam

A Note from Jodi:

I thought this quote was perfect for tomorrow’s Administrative Professionals Day.  There is something so satisfying about working for a company/boss who not only appreciates what you do for them, but who actually follows through and TELLS you and/or SHOWS you just how much your hard work and dedication are appreciated.  Unfortunately, we all hear when we do things the wrong way, but how often do you hear words of praise? I am betting when you do hear those words of praise, that it perks you up, makes you proud of your work, and reinvigorates you to work that much harder. We spend a huge majority of the hours of our lives at work and/or working and if we feel appreciated, it just makes it that much easier to get up in the morning and face the day.

So, to those of you who may be the boss or may have someone working under you or helping out, please remember tomorrow to give them a little praise and tell them how much you appreciate them. Those words are FREE! (no tax deduction needed there! ha!)

“The soul needs friendship, the heart needs love.” ~ Ed Habib

A Note from Jodi:

This quote is so true…and I believe it is so perfect for our blog. This is exactly what we want you to experience when you visit our blog. We want you to feel like you have a community of friends that you can talk to, express your feelings to, laugh with, cry with, and we want you to leave the site feeling like your heart is full of love! We want you to use our blogs as tools to use in your life. We want you to think twice about the quotes we use and the examples from our lives we use, the questions we ask you and apply them to your life in an effort to help you take care of you!

Are YOU feeding your soul? If not, think about this….what or who in your daily life, no matter how small or simple the task, or no matter how brief the encouter with this person, makes you feel loved and like your soul has been fed?

My day started out the perfect way…My soul was fed by seeing that Robin had posted her very first picture to our blog. I am so proud of her. She has a natural talent for photography and she has so much to share with all of you, and I can’t wait to see what else she comes up with to share with us, and I have a feeling that by sharing her photography with us, that in time she too will begin to feel as though her soul has been filled with love…and friendship!

~just me and that’s enough ~ jodi