Walking in my own footsteps

I'm taking a course on Digital  Literacy which contains study on building a responsible digital image and internet safety. One of the requirements is to see what your own digital footprint is on the WWW by using a tool like google search , pipl,etc.
 I had to laugh.

1. About the existence of   so many Donna L. Websters in the world. I already knew this because I belong to a fb group of people who are named Donna L Webster. We may all be as individual as snowflakes, but we are all snowflakes.
2. That my masterpiece of an allegorical fantasy  novel that I poured heart and soul into writing, The Princess and Her Defender has a large presence on up to 10 Google Search pages connected with my actual name. It is being marketed online in Australia, Britain and even currently on Ebay. It makes it sound so big, and yet I've never earned one check of royalites from that book because it hasn't netted enough in sales for the check to be cut and sent to me . (Must be at least $30 dollars. )I wrote it so that others could read it and receive the hope that is woven throughout the book. I don't think it has been read as widely as the web search makes it seem. Either way, it makes me laugh.
3. The idea of having a record of my past addresses and phone numbers appeals to me as I grow older and my brain takes such a long time recalling what it considers irrelevant info that most governmental paperwork requires. 

What is there to be happy about in all of this? My digital footprint reminds me  remarkably lof  how I walk down the street calmly when I see a ploice car I don't have to run because I am not guilty of breaking the law. Have I ever accidentally clilcked on the wrong link? Sure. Signed up for an annoying email? Sure.I'm happy that my digital life reflects my real life. That's integrity, courtesy of  the Grace of God who has created me.

For just such a time as this

Up in the middle of the night, couldn't sleep. Been struggling with some things lately: unemployment, the illness of a family member, things breaking. Usually I find the grace to trust God as provider. Tonight I rolled over to a cooler part of my pillow and woke up worried. I felt ambushed.

Got up to wander around the house. Looked for work online. And accidentally stumbled on this writing article I wrote for an online news blog six months back.. I never sent it in. There it was sitting in a file on my desktop. Waiting for just such a time as this.

Cultivating a positive attitude

Writing is an art, a craft and an emotional investment. Writers who actively pursue a positive attitude can keep writing through it all. Whether freelance writing or simply living life, sooner or later someone is bound to say: “Keep a positive attitude about it.” Heard it before? Some times and some days keeping a positive attitude is “easier said than done”.  Webster’s dictionary states that attitude can be a mental position, a feeling or an emotion toward a fact or state. Attitude is an outside reflection of how you think or feel inside. Here are   some steps that can help in maintaining a positive attitude

1 Keep positive by controlling voice tones and postures. Attitude is an outside reflection of how a person thinks or feels inside. However, controlling outside reflections can also influence how a person feels inside.

2. Breathe Deeply! Take some deep breaths and hold each inhale for as long as you can before exhaling. Oxygen helps brains to work well and this can help a person feel better. It’s easier to have a positive attitude when you feel better and can think clearly.

3. Compare –Contrast   Be here and now. Yes, planning for the future can be fun and a quick bandaid for the soul. Yes, reflectively thinking about the past, or remembering can be healthy or pleasant. There are times for both. People who focus on the here and now get to fully experience what is going on. Their senses are alert and receiving input. Alert senses also help writers’ observation skills, which can improve their writing.

3. Have bad moments, not bad days. Do the math! There are 1440 minutes in a day. Even a couple of horrible, terrible, rotten no good hours leaves 1320 minutes that weren’t bad.

3. Writers who practice positive attitude purposefully cultivate a healthy, realistic perspective about their days, So what if you overslept,  someone vomited on your shoe on the bus, you lost your keys or your boss yelled at you. If that’s the worse thing that happened to you today, you really had a good day. Think about all the other bad things that could have happened but didn’t.

4. Be aware of your place in this world. How does your life compare to most people in the rest of the world?

5. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude."

It might not be polished writing, but it was just what I needed. 

Thought I would post it, just in case.....

Decisions, decisions....

The following quote was posted on Facebook by my fb friend, KT Leong

 . I really don't need to write anything else about it. You are intelligent enough to be teachable by those who are wise.

‎"When her husband of seventy years died, she had to move to a nursing home....As she maneuvered her walker into the elevator, she was given a verbal description of her tiny room. "l love it," she declared with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old presented with a puppy. "...you haven't seen it yet...Just wait." "Happiness is something you decide upon ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged; it's how I arranged it in my mind....Every day is a gift, and as long as my eyes are open I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories that I've stored away....." ~a real life elderly mentioned in "You're only young twice" by Ronda Beaman, RdS  

It's Not Complicated

  Someone I love  has an email address that includes the words its not complicated . Whenever I am trying to write down that email address  while trying to remember where to put punctuation, how to spell complicated,etc., I disagree.  I think:" Oh, yes, it is complicated!" We humans have a tendency to complicate things. 
     Adam began to complicate simple directions when he added : "And we must not  even touch it" to God's command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. He probably just added it because he knew Eve better than we do. As a teacher and houseparent, I've seen children add to the playground rules, house parents add to the rules in the house. A lot of government ordinances are a very human attempt to  add  our own two cents to God's Big 10. Oh, I understand that laws have to be specific   enough to eliminate any possible misunderstandings. Our efforts at clarification, however, typically   complicate so much  that you have to hire a lawyer just to help decipher what it actually says.
   As humans we tend to complicate just about everything we touch or think about. Human invented  inventions and technology make life easier, you say? Sure they do! Easier, except when they don't work  properly- then, it complicates everything. Even knowledge can complicate our decisions and our actions. Our worries, our fears  not only complicate our own lives ; they also complicate  the lives of people around us. The list is endless.

   Faith, on the other hand,   has the tendency to simplify . It amazes me that the Creator, whose creation continually astounds with its multitudinous intricacies, was willing to boil the simple BIG 10 down to two very simple rules for living. Love God. Love people.

 The wise King Solomon, full of words and thought summarized  like this:

"Here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil."

And the Prophet Micah simplified by saying this:

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."Micah 6:8

    I could go on, but why complicate things? 

    The real matter at hand is:what does all this have to do with being happy? Quite simply, I love God, He loves me. Never, at any time or in any circumstance am I unloved.

     How could I not be happy? 
                                                                        

                       It's just  not that complicated.

   

Warming It Up!

Hmmm...hummm, humm.We've had kind of a rough time lately. Serious flu complications, losing the job that was our mainstay income,etc. Why, then do I wake up with a song in my heart every morning?
1. Because I'm old enough to be grateful I woke up? Well, yes.
2. Because there is the possibility that I could spend time with people I love, today? Well, yes, that does make me smile.
3. Because I slept in a comfortable bed, warm with a roof over my head without the rumbles of hunger in my tummy? Well, yes, I do not take those for granted.
4. Because even on grey, winter days, there is beauty to be found? Well, yes...and I enjoy the treasure hunts to find it.
5. Because I know that I know that I know that God loves me? Well, yes and no, not exactly...that's the reason I live, and move and have my being.
6, Because even in the darkest moments, I have troves of good memories to peek at when I need a little cheer? Well, yes, memories are useful in that way.
7. Because I have been graced with the gift of sure faith in the faithfulness of God? Well, yes, faith reinforced by the experience of knowing Him through all the dark times I've experienced before. I know His faithfulness like I know the moods that play across the face of my dear friends  I've learned these things  because of our history together and because I treasure who He is.
8 Because there are  such a things as rainbows and candle flames and baby giggle? Well, yes...duh!.
9 Because  when I did my body inventory this morning there was  a  little spot on my little left toe that didn't hurt ?. Well, yes...I do look for the painless spots and celebrate those.
10. Because with all these reasons and many, many more:WHY NOT wake up with a song in my heart?
And just  like I go out and warm up the engine of my  car so it can run well in this cold weather before I try to depend on it to take me somewhere and to function well. ;  I also hum a little hum to warm up my heart so it can run well in this sometimes cold world, so I  can depend on it to be loving and cheerful when its needed.