Did You Lose Your Key?

Where will your key fit?

Nowhere does it say that just because a person attends college, she becomes wiser than anyone else. Certainly, higher education is an admirable goal and one that should seriously be considered, no matter what age we are! Hopefully, we are now anxious to choose or finish the better aspects of higher education. 

Sound like a plan? Before we realize it, four years can disappear faster than a hummingbird. It’s all about balance and choices that propel us in the right direction. A press release by CareerBuilder once stated in a title, “One-Third of College-Educated Workers Do Not Work in Occupations Related to Their College Major. Thirty-six Percent Wish They Majored in Something Different.” There's a hint to start a little research!

If we feel stuck finding our specific niche in life, then it may require some honest soul-searching. Fear, a major cause of procrastination, normally is the culprit that holds us back. But once we discover the key to our dreams, any amount of time spent on educating ourselves and then working in our chosen field is all joy. Try starting with these seven key questions:

• What particular activity can cause you to lose track of time?
• What books, magazines, or online articles do you find yourself reading?
• What do people compliment you on as “your gift?”
• Did your younger self have a dream that was never realized?
• If you have a degree, how could you now use it in a new field?
• If you are retired, how could you use your skills as a volunteer?
• If money wasn’t an issue, what would you do with the rest of your life?

Tip of the Day

We don’t need to feel alone in this exciting adventure. We are not alone. Even before we were born, in our mother’s womb, God already had a perfect plan designed for each one of us. That’s His special niche! He’s been preparing us to jump in with all the courage and strength we can find. 

God is anxious to give us plenty of wisdom to see all our dreams come true, especially now that we are on our own. All we have to do is let Him know we are ready and willing to move ahead with Him in the driver’s seat. Get ready, Graduation Day is coming!

“But if any of you needs wisdom, you should ask God for it. He is generous to everyone and will give you wisdom without criticizing you” (James 1:5 NCV).

Looking for the Price Tag

First task of the day creates "wisdom"! 

Just a bit of trivia today. In 2018, the "highest auction price in Sotheby's [world's largest broker of fine art] history" was for the sale of artist "Amedeo Modigliani's [painting] Nu Couche' for $157.2 million." [www.sothebys.com] 

Material objects can be passed down as an investment in a person’s will, but one thing remains a fact: no one can take possessions with them when they die. We came into the world with nothing, and we will leave with nothing. 

However, people have been buried with certain so-called “treasures” in their graves. John F. Kennedy collected scrimshaw (ivory engraved with pictures and designs) and one piece was placed in his coffin along with his gold cufflinks, among other things; Frank Sinatra was buried with a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and a pack of Camel cigarettes; and Bob Marley had his red Gibson Les Paul guitar and a Bible placed with him when he died. [smithsonianmag.com] 

What's Going On?

Much, much more valuable to us during our lifetimes is gaining wisdom, or we can think of it as “becoming wise,” not an easy thing to do for any of us! Without it, we can exhibit a lack of common sense and become prone to all sorts of foolish activities destroying our lives in the process. [One of the best descriptions of wisdom is found in the Bible. See the book of Proverbs 2:1-15]

We can feel good, really good, that in literature, as well as the Bible (i.e., Proverbs 8:1-36), Wisdom is portrayed as a woman--”the one who instructs.” [Zondervan Handbook to the Bible, 1999, pg 395]. We sense you teachers out there already knew this, right?  

But how would we put a “price tag” on wisdom? Or could we? Yes, it is a valuable commodity that bolsters human nature and our relationships. But it is not a monetary matter. It can be said that once we have it, and know how to use it, we will always have it. So which could we say is more valuable, money or wisdom? 

There is nothing worth more than having a sense of wisdom. Without it, we have nothing else to fall back on and no one to trust. We have no foundation for goodness to grow, nowhere for truth to live. We can hold onto it, add to it, and take it with us wherever we go.

Tip of the Day

God knew from the beginning that we would need wisdom in our lives every single day. His generosity offers this priceless gift to us for the taking. It’s already inside of us, lying dormant. All we need to do is ask God daily to “turn the faucet on,” so wisdom will flow into us through His Holy Spirit (a special “Helper” being given to us). No need to bring your credit card--it costs nothing!

“Wisdom is more precious than rubies. Nothing you could want is equal to it” (Proverbs 8:11 NCV).

Time to Soak Up the Sunshine!

Sunshine waiting for you!

When we want to do something fun and exhilarating, housekeeping is probably the last thing we would think of doing. Of course, the “dust bunnies” regularly pile up on or under every surface in our home. The floors call out to us to give them a clean shine. Windows want to sparkle. Unfortunately, the cleaning must be done! 

One task–changing sheets on a bed--should be one of the easier weekly chores. Yet, for some reason, it can become a major struggle especially if we have to get behind a queen-sized bed surrounded by three walls in a tiny bedroom. Such an ordeal has the potential for a touchy anger issue to raise its ugly head. 

We allow ourselves to explode and overreact at even the smallest things that invade our lives. We reach out and grab a bottle of detergent with a loose cap to wash the next load of clothes and immediately drop and spill the sticky liquid contents all over the floor. Yikes! 

So what is going on? Sometimes, it is simple frustration or fear about our circumstances that turns a good day into an anxiety-filled boiling pot. Maybe we didn't get enough sleep last night. Or, perhaps, we don’t even have a consistent sleep schedule which then wreaks havoc with anything we are trying to get done. Everything we have to go through alone seems overwhelming. We have no one to lean on, no one to talk to, and no one who can help us overcome all of our sticky problems. 

Yet, deep down inside, we know what we need the most. We need love (we are not speaking at this moment about sexual intimacy). We need someone to say "It is okay, let me do that for you." What a refreshing thought. We could at least take a deep breath and a needed break and call a friend for a short chat. She might need it just as much as we do. 

There are all forms of love to give and receive and they don’t always require an intimate partner. What we are alluding to here is the kind of deep relationships we crave with others--friends and family--that we can add into our lives. How?

Well, building friendships takes time and effort, so maybe we just have to face the fact, the sheets can wait until tomorrow. The dusting is for another day when we are calmer. Now is the time to step outside, soak up the sunshine (defeats depression by the way), and invite a friend for a cup of coffee/favorite treat.  

God created many, many beautiful things for us including aspen trees, snow-capped mountains, gentle ocean waves, evergreens, and fields of wheat swaying in the breeze. The list is so long, we could fill numerous volumes of gratitude journals. Go ahead and start one now!

We can literally grow into love. Think about that for a minute. Although we may not have an intimate, physical touch at this moment in our private lives, we can still seek appropriate love from others just by being involved and helping someone else to meet a need. 

We grow into that kind of love because love requires at least two people. Two friends. Two siblings. Two neighbors. Two starts the snowball rolling in our direction. Recently on a Sunday morning, someone at church said, “I became a Greeter because I need hugs.” Watch out! Love is rolling our way!

Tip of the Day 

Getting involved regularly with a local church, neighborhood school, hospital, or the many community organizations that seek volunteers will fill us with more love than we could ever imagine! It’s very difficult to stay angry or depressed with our life situations when love is given and received in this way. It was God’s simple plan from the very beginning: give love, get love. It does work!

“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:14 NLT).

Cake with Icing Please

Red Velvet with Icing!

One of the most treasured gifts is peace. It is also the most difficult to find. Peace is spoken about in church services, negotiated during wars, displayed in store windows at Christmas, and printed on gift cards and wrapping paper. 

It is a freedom most of the world wants and will strive to get. But peace should not just be enjoyed at certain times of the year and then stored on a shelf with the rest of the ornaments. It is important to our well-being and happiness all during the year as it continually exhibits the quality of life so many have missed.

Where exactly is peace found?

All women who truly want peace have to work hard at creating it in their lives because it does not just suddenly appear. We need to learn new skills and behaviors that lead to a more harmonious life. Single-again women [widowed, divorced, single moms] may find gaining peace a little bit more challenging now on our own, but it can be done, if we don't give up! 

Remember, the rewards are worth the effort. Calm and tranquility can become part of our new lives if we are willing to try some practical ways to start building the best possible life right now. Ready? Set. Go!

• It's important to take one positive step at a time. Rushing through this period in our lives will only create a shaky foundation. Start with whatever is most important right at this moment. A new job? A better place to live? Finding new friends? 
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• Take the time to find the positives every day. Making the perfect cup of coffee, planting a yellow rose bush, finding a new book to read (try your local thrift store for a great bargain). Every tiny victory counts! Be determined to go forward, not backward. 
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• No fantasies! They aren't real and will only swallow us in frustration. If living in a large mansion isn't part of the budget right now, we can find something just as beautiful that we can be proud of calling our home. Simple is good. Hint: it's trendy to go "minimalist" in the decorating arena. And if $350 for a pair of jeans with designer “holes” or fake “mud” sounds expensive, do not even look at brand names selling for $1,200 and up (it is true; we’re not making this up)! Be proud to shop the "sale" racks (or better yet, discount stores) for clothes and end up with money in those fancy pockets.

The Icing on the Cake: Patience

None of the above tips will work without Patience as a companion. Take a breath and remember these two truths:

Challenges - we don’t develop as a woman if all we have is a perfect and easy life. We only grow and mature through the "ugly stuff" in our lives and how we handle them. Even in nature, things happen for a reason. Take roses, for instance, (nearly all of them) have thorns that are difficult to remove. There is a reason. The thorns protect them from natural enemies like insects and animals! We can find a purpose for the “thorns” we have if only we show a little tenacity and patience.

Attitudes - how we react and treat others with love and patience will amaze them. The world expects us to react with anger and rudeness when things don’t go our way. The waitress is too slow. The insurance company won’t pay our claim. We got our pink slip this week. Someone cuts us off in line. Shock the world! Let’s break the mold and be willing to display the kind and loving women we were meant to be. It's contagious!

Tip of the Day 

Know that true and lasting peace only comes from God. His intervention in our lives will make everything right in our world. Without Him, difficulties will continue to pile onto each other and we will get lost again. He's there. He has the answers. Let’s not leave him out of our plans, but instead invite him in.

“If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days. . .Search for peace, and work to maintain it” (1 Peter 3:10-11 NLT). 

“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them” (Romans 8:28 NLT).

Your Best Day

Don't get caught! Keep the momentum going!

Time speeds through our days like river rapids running through a canyon. If we aren't watching the clock, we look up and it’s nearly bedtime, and we haven’t completed all the chores and errands we wanted to get done. Sound familiar? This passage of time happens every single day; we probably know the clock does not stop for anyone. Ever.

Decades have passed for many of us, so what will we do with our lives now? How can we plan to do it differently--to make it better? We have the chance to use the same twenty-four hours in the day as anyone else. It’s tempting to just allow our lives to waste away as some people do. 

But then we would have to deal with the pain, hurt, and confusion of not recognizing the freedom we have been given. Moving forward is an individual decision we each make when the time is right. The challenge is not easy, but it is necessary if we want to survive joyfully in this world. And, yes, we definitely can!

We might ask ourselves just a few questions to get the momentum going. Grab a journal and write these ideas down to think (and dream) about later if that's easier right now:

• What specifically do we want to happen in the next month? Next year?
• What "tools" do we need to get there?
• Do we need to team up with someone who can help?

Right Brain Creativity

The above ideas are just examples. Thankfully, everyone is different, special, and unique. We can each find our own best pathway. Maybe we are naturals at math and could become excellent accountants. If the arts are our thing, perhaps a position at a gallery or museum would make us bloom! 

Maybe we simply want to finish the quilt we started for our daughter or granddaughter. This could also lead to teaching a class in quilting. How many more can you think of? There are endless opportunities.

Some of these women might encourage us:

• Laura Ingalls Wilder published the Little House series at age sixty-four and continued writing until she was seventy-six years old.
• “Grandma Moses,” at age seventy-six, began painting folk art. She continued until she was 101 years old, producing over 1,000 works!
• Susan Boyle began singing professionally for the first time at age forty-eight, winning Britain’s Got Talent show in 2009. She has continued breaking global record sales.

These women are not the exception. They are the ones who never gave up on their dreams! They were not content to come to the end of their lives without demonstrating their purpose and leaving a legacy. There are many like them.

Tip of the Day

Our natural talents and gifts come directly from God, who created us. He created everyone and everything. He created the entire universe! God has a special purpose for each one of us and wants to see us use our gifts. Let’s not sit back while another year speeds by before discovering what possibilities he has in mind for us.

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” (Romans 8:31 NLT).

 

What Have We Learned?

Hint: Grab the book with ribbons!

It’s a painful experience to suffer ridicule in our lives (remember Charlie Brown from the comic strip, Peanuts?), no matter how many candles are on the cake this year. Someone intentionally making fun of us, especially cruelly or harshly, catches us off guard. It’s like mistakenly hitting our finger with a hammer. Ouch! The pain is sudden and unexpected. 

There are endless ways people exhibit their brand of hurting others; sometimes it is subtle, and at other times, it’s obvious and offensive. We’ve all had to endure this psychological abuse in our lives if we were ever in a relationship that was going nowhere. We struggled, not knowing at the time what to do about it. Now, we are relieved to finally find ourselves in a better place.

We can pause now and ask ourselves, “What have we learned?” In many cases, inappropriate words--verbal abuse--were forced on us day after day. Maybe we never responded out of fear of making the situation worse. Or perhaps we did react with anger of our own, and that, of course, solved nothing. 

We, of all people (single-again), understand the striking power of words. We now have a decision to make. Are we going to continue this pattern or change it? Like the invalid person in the Bible who was asked by Jesus, Do you want to get well? [emphasis mine] (John 5:6 NIV). Do we want peace in our lives? The truth is, we have the power to change our attitudes, and this is where transformation begins. 

No one willingly wants to take part in repeating such disturbing verbal abuse or physical attack. Only if we have an open mind and a softened heart will we learn from our past. Reversing emotional abuse and improving our outlook is good for our souls and our futures. We are not saying it is easy to make a change. Just that it is important if we want to restore our health. 

There really are no quick or easy answers. Humans have not successfully eliminated the temptation of keeping our mouths quiet for long. We are fascinated with talking and hearing our own voices. We envision ourselves as charming and those who others hang on our every word. We might just have these gifts, but still wrestle with finding the proper way to use them. It takes much practice and possibly using invisible packaging tape over our mouths!

Tip of the Day 

The best solution available is found in the Bible--God’s perfect way to use His Word to communicate with us. If we can admit we are serious about changing past patterns, check these four references and the corresponding subjects:

• Ephesians 4:31-32 - bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, slander
• Proverbs 20:19 - gossiping
• 2 Corinthians 12:20 - quarreling, jealousy, arrogance
• Proverbs 16:28 - being a troublemaker, strife

In the Peanuts comic strip, some say Lucy was the most “mouthy” one. Maybe we should all just claim Snoopy and Woodstock as our best friends–they had thoughts but no “language” to utter!

"Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry" (James 1:19 NLT).

Fill a Canyon with Courage

The Grand Canyon is waiting for you!

No matter what stage of life we are in, we need excellent role models and mentors. It’s always good to keep an eye on how other women are improving, encouraging, developing, and growing. Stop and think, who would we pick as the one female (non-relative) who has had the most influence in our lives? It might be the life and accomplishments of someone we learned about in our studies, such as:

• Eleanor Roosevelt used her influential voice as First Lady to speak on the injustice of certain social matters. She was also a strong supporter of African-American rights, even in the 1940s. Eleanor was never elected to office but is still often quoted today as a social reformer.
• Marie Curie was a scientist and the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. She was the only person to be awarded Nobel Prizes in two different science fields! Marie was the first female professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, France. If you think she had nothing else to do, she also refined X-ray imaging. Think about her when you have your next mammogram!

Our own personal female influencer may be a living person. One that we admire for her tenacity and determination amid all the trials and tribulations poured on her like a torrential downpour. Anyone who has ever experienced extreme anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, or even just a day that went from bad to worse would never forget the horrifying story of Joni Eareckson Tada. It will push your doubts and fears to a new level. 

In 1967, when she was just seventeen years old, Joni became a quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down during a diving accident. We may or may not be able to imagine the many months, even years, of heart-wrenching discouragement and pain--both physical and emotional-- she endured in rehabilitation. 

Did she ever give up? Sure. At first, Joni did just that; she wanted to end it all right there. But she found her strength in her God, who held her up when she didn’t think she could go on, and He gave her the courage to face another day. Within just a few years, Joni learned to paint with a brush between her teeth! With that same method, so far, she has written more than fifty books, including the best-selling Joni, the story of her life. 

Joni has recorded several musical albums, starred in a movie about her life, and is an advocate for the disabled. Was that the conclusion of a “happy-ever-after” story? No, not by any means. In 2010, Joni was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy and chemotherapy. Her courage could fill the Grand Canyon!

Maybe our hero is not famous. Maybe she is the teacher who stayed late time after time just to help us learn the piano. Now we play in concert halls. A coach who showed us a better way to ice skate so we could get into the Olympics. A local businesswoman trained us on how to open our own business. Or the optimistic friend who helped move us to a new home with no questions asked. We all have someone we look up to and want to take lessons from when the next pothole blocks the road.

Because of these women and their accomplishments, we might ask ourselves, What have I done with my days? Instead of living in a state of depression and discouragement, we can review and gain momentum from the lives of women we admire. Autobiographies and biographies fill shelves upon shelves in our libraries, waiting for us to learn from fearless women. We can then begin picking our chins off the floor, packing our bags full of bold-spiritedness, tenacity, and grit, and start something new!

Tip of the Day

It isn’t easy to move on by ourselves. We need only look to our heavenly Father to help us find a place of love and encouragement. He is on our side and already knows our hurts, problems, and challenges. God just wants to hear us ask for His help, as He never wants to force His love on us.

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand" (Isaiah 41:10 NLT).