heart & souls

I love this movie!  It's on my top 10 favorite movies of all time list.

It's cheesy, corny and sappy but with lots of heart, great moments of hilarity and a timeless message about seizing life by the horns and living every moment to the fullest.  Plus it's Robert Downey, Jr. and he's simply fantastic.
Heart and Souls will grab your heart and soul!



Yep, this is a post full of cliches...

i am thankful

for a good day where i learned a lot about myself and dealing graciously with criticism.

simple, right?

My deep thoughts for the day...

This week I've been in training to become a leadership advisor for a drug and alcohol program. Today in class we were asked, at the end of a very broad, long and dry presentation, "True or False: Can we win the war on drugs?" Most in the class answered no. I however answered yes, and was laughed at incredulously by some of the members of the class.  Here's how I defended my answer: Yes, we can win the war on drugs one person at a time.

The war on drugs that I can fight and win is on an individual basis with people. I can't go to Mexico to broker peace with the drug cartels, to Afghanistan to convince farmers to stop planting poppies and funding the local Taliban and hence world terrorist organizations, or to Colombia to stop the cocaine trade. I can work with individuals who come to me or are referred to me for help, and point them in the right direction to get help, and I can help to educate people before they make these choices.  That's the part I have control over and the possibility of me winning this part is there, difficult, but not impossible.

Someone laughed when I said that we can win one person at a time, and used the analogy of the starfish on the beach. Yep, it's true we can't throw all of them back in the ocean, but to the ones we throw back in the ocean a difference has been made. Another person accused me of being a Democrat, as if they have the corner on individualism... Nonetheless, I stand by my answer. We can win, one person at a time.

I get frustrated sometimes by the lack of vision when it comes to managing personnel administration programs within organizations. Sure, part of managing a program is to monitor statistics and apply the over arching policies. However, unless the application of the program is distilled to simple terms, then the point is missed, and the point with this particular program about which I'm learning is people. How to educate a person to think about his or her choices. How to help them when they don't make the right choice. How to determine if they deserve a second chance or if the policy will allow a second chance. How to hold them accountable when their actions don't uphold the standards and values of the organization. We have to apply programs to people and on an individual basis when we can.

People are the most important part of any program and by losing sight of how to apply programs to people, then we lose sight of the people.

But, people are not the simplest element to deal with. I get this. People have to want to change and even then they may not choose to, I get this too. I get that sometimes I won't be able to help someone in the ways they truly need to be helped, because of the parameters of the program I'm dealing with. That's life and sometimes, well a lot of the time, it's not ideal. That's okay, and I can deal with that, as long as I know that I did my part.

Thanks for reading. I just had to get this off my chest today.

a nap

today it was hard to settle down and reflect on gratitude. i was very tired today for some reason and i had a difficult time concentrating.

my class ended early today and so i came home, changed clothes, and took a nap. the original plan had been to go for a run but the almost 40 mph winds convinced me that a nap was the better choice.

a mid-afternoon nap in the middle of the week was complete decadence for me today and for this i am thankful.

image

walk in their shoes

Today I attended an AA meeting. It was a homework assignment for the DAPA course I am in this week. To say the least it was an eye opening experience.

I am so thankful for my life right now. And I am so thankful for choosing the life that I have. I am thankful for the chance to change the way I see people and their trials, for the chance to consciously drop judgment at the door, and for knowing we truly are all God's children and He loves us no matter what.

and the winning photo is

Recall my request last week for input on which photo was your favorite?

Well the winner was number 7!

Here it is straight out of the camera.

The only treatment was cropping it a bit.

Here it is after running the Warmify effect function on Picasa 3.

I think I like this better.

Thanks for sharing your opinions!

It was fun to read what you all thought.

Thanks SD for your great photography skills.

a finishing touch

When I saw this...

I fell in love. I wanted it on my wall.

I splurged.

It was on sale and I had a coupon!

I love this on the wall my above the couch.

I think it definitely finishes the space and fills in the blank very nicely.

 

More home decor to come...

a body

...therefore glorify God in your body...

~~1 Corinthians 6:20

I've been thinking about this scripture every since I heard it in General Conference in October. Granted most interpretations of this scripture talk about consecrating one's life to God and sanctifying the body and spirit in service to God.  However, when I heard this scripture my mind went in a bit of a different direction.

I had just finished two months of intense physical training and my body was in pretty darn good shape. I was tired, very tired, and wondering how I could maintain the shape I was in and not kill myself with every workout. When I heard, "...glorify God in your body..." I immediately thought of all the hard work I had put into strengthening my body and taking care of it during the training.  And I wondered if by maintaining a healthy and strong body was I glorifying God in my body. I think the answer is yes.

Our bodies are a gift from God. There are so many promises of strength and health, if we refrain from injuring ourselves with harmful substances and activities, and concentrate on healthy foods and activities. I know that many people struggle with health problems and physical limitations of all kinds and that sometimes it may not feel like a blessing from God to have that body.  I think that God just wants us to work with what we have and do our best. I think that God wants us to listen to ourselves and learn what our bodies need in order to feel the best we can.  When we do this and invite him to help, he will bless us.

I love how I feel when I'm out for a run, my lungs are expanding as I breath in and out, my leg muscles are burning from going up the hill and the endorphin high kicks in. It's a good feeling. It makes me happy, clears my head and makes me want to eat healthy, do some pushups and even some situps which I hate. The feeling of having worked hard and pushed myself a bit to do better on a run or other workout is a good one, and I think God feels a bit of glory when I seek to keep his gift to me healthy.

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to write what I'm trying to say.  So, here's the simple version:

Today I am very thankful for a healthy, strong body that pretty much does what I want it to do.  I am thankful I can use my body to run, sing, dance and have fun.  I am thankful for the body I have right now.