Ten Simple Rules For Happiness…

Sometimes we just need a little reminder!

1. Fill your soul with gratitude and express it constantly.
2. Allow your heart to love and show it openly.
3. Free your mind from worries and live with hope and faith.
4. Enjoy peace, solitude and serenity, pondering messages from within.
5. Be flexible, adapting to change with eager anticipation and resilience.
6. Simplify your life, recognizing the fundamentals of each stage along the way.
7. Take care of your physical body by eating healthily, resting sufficiently, and exercising regularly.
8. Expand your mind and spirit through uplifting literature, music and entertainment.
9. Nurture and value healthy relationships with family and friends.
10. Give more and expect less.

(Author unknown)

Top 12 Easy Red Hot Mama Jumpstarts

1. Clear the physical clutter (closets, counters, garage, car)

2. Clear your mental clutter of any beliefs that no longer serve you. Thank them and let them go!

3. Question all your beliefs, habits, thought patterns. Are they yours, or did you accumulate them from someone else? Are you still being run by beliefs you adopted when you were a child, teenager, newlywed?

4. Apply a habit of “Sift & Sort” to everything: ideas, beliefs, habits, even the people you’re around. Keep what helps you and clear out the rest!

5. Define what you want your life to be in 2008 and beyond. Design and create your life like the bold, outrageous creator you are. (You can say good-by forever to living the life someone else expects you to live.)

6. Now take the picture/list you got in step 5 and make it even bigger, bolder, and more outrageous. What would you do if you had no fears? What would you create if you had no excuses? What would your life be if you could magically create it to fit your wildest dreams?

7. Now put energy into your vision by using all your senses and feeling yourself having attained all this.

8. Be grateful for what is in your life right now. Enjoy what you think is good and thank the rest for the lessons you have learned.

9. Get a partner, Mastermind partner, team of people who support you in your vision of a better life.

10. Make a daily practice of visualizing, savoring, gratitude’s, listing successes, and action.

11. List your successes every day! (Yes, give yourself credit for all you accomplish, even if you’re only taking baby steps toward your goal.)

12. Do something good for someone else. Be part of something bigger than yourself.

I’ve Been Published

I'm so excited! My very own true life story was chosen as the 'customer muse' and published on July 17th at my favorite digital scrapbooking site. Here's the link if you want to read it on their website and sign up to receive your own daily newsletter. Don’t miss out on the freebie of the day…it’s definitely worth it! http://www.scrapgirls.com/NL/Chit_Chat_100717_Sat_Time.htm

CUSTOMER MUSE

The Gift of Time

It was December 1984. I was a temporary, part-time employee working as a ramp agent for one of the major airlines in Salt Lake City, Utah. Back then, temporary, part-time work didn't include benefits of any kind.

Earlier that year, my husband and I found out we were unexpectedly expecting our third child. To our surprise, we were ecstatic and figured we would take each day as it came and prayed I wouldn't lose my job.

As a ramp agent, the job description required me to be able to physically lift up to 70 pounds at any given time. Twenty-five years ago, it was unusual to see a female working on the ramp as a baggage handler.

Within the company, female ramp agents were commonly referred to as a rampett. Remember the cartoon, The Smurfs? Being called a rampett often reminded me of the lone female Smurfett from the cartoon. I'm sure the title today would be classified as sexist, but at the time, no one thought twice about it. In fact, I was quite proud that I could load the bin of a 727 aircraft as well as any of the guys. Rampett or rampee... who cared? We all had the same job to do.

Though I was working for a major airline, Salt Lake City was still a new station for us, and as such, there were only 24 employees, which included our ticket agents and marketing personnel. We had to do it all... load the plane, restock the supplies, and clean it. Not to mention the deep cleaning of the overnight aircraft. Yikes!

At six months pregnant, I emphatically told my supervisor I wasn't quitting and if they (the powers that be) wanted me out of there, they were going to be hard pressed to find a good reason to fire me. As I made that statement, I knew it would mean loading and cleaning airplanes right up to my due date without any complaints on my part... ugh, the thought! But believe me, I had set my mind to the task, and I was not going to give them a good reason to fire me!

Luckily, I had also been trained as a load planner, which was most often an inside position. The last three months of my pregnancy, the guys I worked with (who were also trained) relinquished their rights to that job assignment, and I pretty much became the official load planner. That meant I had a desk job (sort of), and I was in charge of planning the weight distribution of the aircraft. However, I still had to assist loading bags, emptying trash, replenishing supplies, and cleaning the aircraft while it was on the ground, all the necessary things to ensure an on-time departure.

(I shudder when I think of being eight months pregnant, standing in the wheel well of a 727 to get a plumb-bob reading for an inoperative fuel gauge. But I digress... that is another story entirely.)

Having absolutely no maternity leave to speak of, I worked swaps with several of my co-workers prior up to my due date, all in order to build up paid time once I gave birth. Everyone knew how concerned I was about the six weeks without pay and the financial hardship that meant to my family.

My due date was December 19th. From November 1st to December 15th, I worked without one single day off. (I'm sure it was probably illegal, but it was one of those "I won't say anything if you don't" situations.)

To make a long story short... (unbeknownst to me) my supervisor, along with all the guys I worked with, obtained approval from our station manager to each work a day in my name, giving me an additional six days of pay during those six weeks.

By the time December 19th rolled around, I had built up approximately three weeks of paid time. When the guys surprised me with a card, I was brought to tears as I read the words stating what they intended to do. One by one, the signatures jumped off the page. I knew what a huge sacrifice this meant for them... eight hours of free labor. Even now, it still boggles my mind!

I will never forget the faces of each one of those guys, my co-workers... my friends. The gift they unselfishly gave me that year is beyond words, and I am eternally grateful.

We've all gone our separate ways. Some are still with the airline, and some are not. Yet I wonder to this day if they have any idea how much that gift of generosity meant to my family and to me! My love for them in that moment will always be a part of me.

Every now and then, I like to take a moment to revisit my past. It reminds me that we all have many treasures waiting to be dug up and dusted off. This memory is one of mine.

Wishing everyone... Abundance, Health, and Harmony,

Jolene West

Muse: To be absorbed in one's thoughts; engage in meditation. Not intended to solve the world's problems, another person's problems, or to cover topics completely. One does not have to agree with musings to enjoy them, just as one does not have to be the same as someone else to appreciate who they are.

Would you like to earn a $20 Gift Certificate? Send your own muse to hello@scrapgirls.com. If it is selected for publication in the Scrap Girls newsletter, you'll get to have fun shopping!

Words To Live By

This has been circulating via email now for years. The original pics were adorable but in order to not be guilty of breaking any copyright laws I substituted the pics with ones of my own grandkids!  And I must say, they are just as adorable if not more. LOL

A sharp tongue can cut my own throat.

(AJ making his ‘Home Alone’ face)

 If I want my dreams to come true, I mustn't oversleep.

 Of all the things I wear, my expression is the most important.

 The best vitamin for making friends.... B1.

  The happiness of my life depends on the quality of my thoughts.

 
The heaviest thing I can carry is a grudge.

  
One thing I can give and still keep...is my word.

 I lie the loudest when I lie to myself.

(AJ, Pic taken by ‘Malin’)

Ideas won't work unless ' I ' do.

My mind is like a parachute...it functions only when open.

If I lack the courage to start, I have already finished.

The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime!

It is never too late to become what I might have been.  (This is my motto!)

One thing I can't recycle is wasted time.

Friends are like balloons; once you let them go, you might not get them back.

Sometimes we get so busy with our own lives and problems that we may not even notice that we've let them fly away.

Sometimes we are so caught up in who's right and who's wrong that we forget what's right and wrong.

Sometimes we just don't realize what real friendship means until it is too late.

I don't want to let that happen so I'll tie you to my heart to never lose you.

The Baggy Yellow Shirt by Patricia Lorenz

Used with permission of the author

The baggy yellow shirt had long sleeves, four extra-large pockets trimmed in black thread and snaps up the front. It was faded from years of wear, but still in decent shape. I found it in 1963 when I was home from college on Christmas break, rummaging through bags of clothes Mom intended to give away. "You're not taking that old thing, are you?" Mom said when she saw me packing the yellow shirt. "I wore that when I was pregnant with your brother in 1954!"

"It's just the thing to wear over my clothes during art class, Mom. Thanks!" I slipped it into my suitcase before she could object. The yellow shirt became a part of my college wardrobe. I loved it. After graduation, I wore the shirt the day I moved into my new apartment and on Saturday mornings when I cleaned.

The next year, I married. When I became pregnant, I wore the yellow shirt during big-belly days. I missed Mom and the rest of my family, since we were in Colorado and they were in Illinois. But that shirt helped. I smiled, remembering that Mother had worn it when she was pregnant, 15 years earlier. That Christmas, mindful of the warm feelings the shirt had given me, I patched one elbow, wrapped it in holiday paper and sent it to Mom. When Mom wrote to thank me for her "real" gifts, she said the yellow shirt was lovely. She never mentioned it again.

The next year, my husband, daughter and I stopped at Mom and Dad's to pick up some furniture. Days later, when we uncrated the kitchen table, I noticed something yellow taped to its bottom. The shirt!

And so the pattern was set.

On our next visit home, I secretly placed the shirt under Mom and Dad's mattress. I don't know how long it took for her to find it, but almost two years passed before I discovered it under the base of our living-room floor lamp. the yellow shirt was just what I needed now while refinishing furniture. The walnut stains added character.

In 1975 my husband and I divorced. With my three children, I prepared to move back to Illinois. As I packed, a deep depression overtook me. I wondered if I could make it on my own. I wondered if I would find a job. I paged through the Bible, looking for comfort. In Ephesians, I read, "So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will be standing up."

I tried to picture myself wearing God's armor, but all I saw was me wearing the stained yellow shirt. Slowly, it dawned on me. Wasn't my mother's love a piece of God's armor? My courage was renewed.

Unpacking in our new home, I knew I had to get the shirt back to Mother. The next time I visited her, I tucked it in her bottom dresser drawer.

Meanwhile, I found a good job at a radio station. A year later I discovered the yellow shirt hidden in a rag bag in my cleaning closet. Something new had been added. Embroidered in bright green across the breast pocket were the words "I BELONG TO PAT."

Not to be outdone, I got out my own embroidery materials and added an apostrophe and seven more letters. Now the shirt proudly proclaimed, " BELONG TO PAT'S MOTHER." But I didn't stop there. I zig-zagged all the frayed seams, then had a friend mail the shirt in a fancy box to Mom from Arlington, VA. We enclosed an official looking letter from "The Institute for the Destitute," announcing that she was the recipient of an award for good deeds. I would have given anything to see Mom's face when she opened the box. But, of course, she never mentioned it.

Two years later, in 1978, I remarried. the day of our wedding, Harold and I put our car in a friend's garage to avoid practical jokers. After the wedding, while my husband drove us to our honeymoon suite, I reached for a pillow in the car to rest my head. It felt lumpy. I unzipped the case and found, wrapped in wedding paper, the yellow shirt. Inside a pocket was a note: "Read John 14:27-29. I love you both, Mother."

That night I paged through the Bible in a hotel room and found the verses: "I am leaving you with a gift: peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't fragile like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you: I am going away, but I will come back to you again. If you really love me, you will be very happy for me, for now I can go to the Father, who is greater than I am. I have told you these things before they happen so that when they do, you will believe in me."

The shirt was Mother's final gift. She had known for three months that she had terminal Lou Gehrig's disease. Mother died the following year at age 57.

I was tempted to send the yellow shirt with her to her grave. But I'm glad I didn't, because it is a vivid reminder of the love-filled game she and I played for 16 years. Besides, my older daughter is in college now, majoring in art. And every art student needs a baggy yellow shirt with big pockets to wear to art class.

Patricia Lorenz

Patricia Lorenz is an internationally-known inspirational, art-of-living writer and speaker and the author of twelve books:

• 
  
  Positive Quotes for Every Day Publications International Ltd. To be released August 2010
• The Five Things We Need To Be Happy Guideposts Books Dec. 2008
• Daily Devotions for Writers Infinity Publishing released April 1, 2008
• Chicken Soup for the Chocolate Lover's Soul HCI 2007
• Chicken Soup for the Tea Lover's Soul HCI 2007
• Chicken Soup for the Dieter's Soul Daily Inspirations HCI 2007
• Life’s Too Short to Fold Your Underwear Guideposts Books paperback 2007
• True Pilot Stories  Infinity Publishing 2005
• Life's Too Short to Fold Your Underwear Guideposts Books hardback 2004
• Grab the Extinguisher, My Birthday Cake's On Fire! Guideposts Books 2004
• Great American Outhouse Stories   Infinity Publishing 2004
• A Hug a Day for Single Parents Servant Publications 1997
• Stuff That Matters for Single Parents  Servant Publications 1996

Patricia is one of the top contributing writers in the country to the Chicken Soup for the Soul books with stories in over 50 of the Chicken Soup books so far as well as being co-author for three of them. She's had over 400 articles published in numerous magazines and newspapers; is a contributing writer for nineteen Daily Guideposts books; four dozen anthologies; and an award-winning newspaper columnist.  Patricia raised two daughters and two sons in Wisconsin as a single parent, and now lives in Florida, where she loves her empty nest and the freedom to follow her dreams while she's still awake.  You can visit her website at: http://www.patricialorenz.com/ or email Patricia at: patricialorenz@juno.com