Spiritual

See the handsome little man above?  His name’s Theoneste and I love that little face now as much as I did when I first saw it on January 2nd.  Isn’t he a doll? Look at his little shoulders?

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to do more for those who can’t do more for themselves. My heart has a particular heaviness for children who are in need, so I spent New Year’s Day researching children’s charities and organizations.  After doing my homework, I decided that World Vision was perfect.  My family is sponsoring the little angel above (Theoneste).  We got our “welcome kit” yesterday with pictures, a magnet, a cd, and lots of fascinating information.  There’s no doubt in my mind that we’ll be sponsoring more children or even a family. 

Please don’t think I’m bragging - I have no reason to brag, whatsoever.  It was foolish of me not to have done this years ago.  If I had started sponsoring children, say 10 years ago - how much good could have already been done?   I can’t even think about that - it makes me uncomfortable in my skin.  I also don’t want to mentally calculate the money I spend on exotic coffees and teas, only to realize the impact that same amount of money could have on someone else’s life.

As we sit in our comfortable homes, with our computers in front of us, a stocked refrigerator at our disposal, clean water when we need it, and more clothes than we’ll ever need - there are people in the world who must think we live like kings and queens.  Yet we complain if our sofa isn’t new or we have to get a new microwave. 

Having Theoneste’s precious face looking down at me from the bulletin board in the kitchen does more than just keep my thoughts in perspective. It reminds me that we’re all under God’s loving eye and that we should look after one another.  Children are a gift from God, whether they’re the children in the next room (currently playing her music way too loud!), or the children in a village in Rwanda.  As adults, shouldn’t we do everything in our power to improve the lives of these little ones?

I would urge you to visit World Vision.org or a similar organization, but I have a feeling you’re already headed in that direction.  If that’s the case, you’re about to begin an adventure that’ll touch your life as deeply as it does the child on the other end.

Jesus said, “…whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me.” - Matthew 18:5 (NIV)

Angelina Jolie, deservedly, topped Reuters’ 2007 Humanitarian poll for both her work as a U.N. goodwill ambassador and for raising awareness of suffering in Africa.

What exactly does that have to do with anything?

Just this:  Several years ago (when she was in the news for vials of blood, kissing her brother, etc…) the sentence above would have made a pretty good joke in Jay Leno’s monologue.  Angelina Jolie…humanitarian?  Ha ha ha. 

But, she turned her life so completely around that, now, when you hear the name, your first thoughts are of her being a wonderful mother and a serious actress. You also think of her as being very active in the causes she believes in.  You think of her generosity overseas as well as at home in the aftermath of Katrina.  You also, of course, think of her dinner companion, breakfast companian, and lunch companian - Mr. Pitt.

If Self Help Daily gave “Person of the Year” awards, she would also top its list. I have nothing but respect for anyone who looks out their window, sees suffering and injustice, and goes outside to do something about it.  It’s so much easier to just close the blinds.

I’m in awe of the work both Angelina and Brad do, but I’m even more in awe of the way she turned her life around and pulled her name up out of the gutter.  Amazing.

It’s proof to all of us that anything’s possible.  One of my favorite sayings has always been, You aren’t known for what you did - you’re known for what you do.  You can erase yesterday’s mistakes with tomorrow, but you have to make your mind up today to do so.

Once you have a firm determination to do so - encourage yourself with the mantra Make It Happen.  It’ll serve as a reminder that:

1. You CAN make it happen.
2. Only YOU can make it happen.

It does, of course, take more than a strong resolve to get there from here. We have to set ourselves up to succeed rather than to fail.  The key factor in the success or failure of most New Year’s resolutions lies, not between January  to December, but on New Year’s Eve.  You can pretty much tell THEN if your resolutions will be a failure or a success.

How?  By answering one question - “What am I doing to make my resolutions happen?“  If your answer is, “I’m writing them down,” you’ve set yourself up to….more likely than not…have to write the same resolution again next year.  And the next.  And the next.  (I’ve been there!)

So, what is the secret to making the Resolutions actually stick?  Glue! Writing resolutions down isn’t glue - it’s just words.  The only way to turn the words into reality is to provide yourself with the tools to make it happen.  Think about it, the reason we keep writing the same resolutions down year after year is we never set ourselves up for success.

For example…

• If one of our resolutions is to be more organized, yet the only thing we ever do to make it happen is to write the words, “Be more organized” - we aren’t making it happen, we’re wishing it would happen.  But if we invest in a file cabinet, more shelves, a desk calendar, and maybe even a day planner - we’ve given ourselves the tools we’ll need to make it happen.
• How about losing weight? If we don’t do something proactive to make it happen, it’ll never be anything but a lovely dream with a trim waist and firm arms.  But if we invest in a gym membership, an exercise machine, a subscription to Prevention, or some great exercise DVDs, we’ve given ourselves the tools we need to make it happen.
• If we want to eat more healthy foods, we have to outsmart ourselves at the grocery store.  If we go when we’re fairly full, we’ll be more apt to buy healthy foods - to the tune of fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains…  Also, falling in love with Subway is another great tool. I promise, a healthy sub and a bag of apple slices will give you more energy for the rest of the day than any other lunch could ever hope to.  Sometimes, doing a little research (not only finding what foods are good and what foods are bad, but finding WHY their good or bad) can be a perfect motivator.
• For the infamous resolution to keep your home or closet neater, investing in special crates, shelves, and closet organizers can turn the words into reality.  Also, we should all go through our things and haul off anything and everything we don’t absolutely love.  We’ll be doing a good deed and tidying up at the same time.
• Speaking of good deeds, if becomming more active is a goal - and I give you a cyber pat on the back if it is - doing a little research into various charities and causes will help steer you in the right direction.  Going through and writing reminders to ”support” your cause on your desk calendar (you know the one that’ll organize your 2008) on certain days of the month will help keep you honest.
• If you have a tendency to speed, begin getting ready and leaving at least 10 minutes earlier.  Then, there’ll be no need to hurry.  In fact, you’ll probably end up driving slower to kill more time. 
• If you’re one of the many who want to start reading more, place books (whether it’s the Bible, historical non-fiction, or novels) in strategic positions:  Near your favorite seat in the living room or den, in the bathroom, by your bedside.  If they’re on the shelf all day, that’s probably where they’ll stay until the next day.
• If you want to learn a new language - go out and buy cassettes and cds that’ll help you.

Basically, whatever it is you want to accomplish, make it easier on yourself.  Give yourself the tools you need to make it happen!

I mean this from the bottom of my heart - I hope that every day of 2008 is more than you dreamed it would be.  I hope that you live well, love much, and laugh often.  You can do anything you set your mind to and you can be anyone you want.  Peace, happiness, and joy! - Joi

I’m about to become one with my kitchen, so the computer and I will be estranged for a few days. I wanted to wish you the merriest of Christmases before heading off to the kitchen, though.

Enjoy every single moment with your family, remember you’re making memories that will last forever…not just for you, but for everyone you love as well.  Smile and laugh till it hurts, eat till the cook blushes, and love everyone unconditionally. Treat each present as though it’s exactly what you’d always hoped for and live life like it was meant to be lived.

Most of all, be sure to thank God for the greatest Gift ever given and the sweetest Love ever shown!

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones - and I’ll see you on the 26th!

Joi

You never know where the next really great idea will come from.  It might even come from you or me!  On second thought, it probably won’t come from me since my brain is incapable of two thought trains at once and the Christmas Express is occupying my thoughts right now.  If you could look inside my mind…though I’m really not sure anyone would want to…it’d be covered with candy canes, snowmen, lights (blinking, of course), gift wrap, and cookies.

So, yeah, if anyone’s going to wax brilliant, it’ll have to be you.  Check back with me sometime in January.

In between baking, decorating, wrapping, and shopping, I’ve been reading a lot about inventions and life-changing ideas lately. I enjoy spending time learning about people who think (or thought) outside of the box. There’s nothing quite as exciting as the human mind at work - not even a sale at JCPenney. Welllll…

The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas. - Earl Nightingale

• In 1937, Sylan Goldman, owner of two supermarket chains, noticed that customers rarely bought more groceries than they could carry in their arms.  So an idea came to him - help the customer, as well as himself, by designing a basket on four wheels.  The shopping cart was born and now we can’t even imagine stores without them.  That reminds me, I need walnuts.
• Q-tips were invented by Leo Gerstenzang when he watched his wife cleaning their baby’s ears with toothpicks and cotton.
• Ralph Schneider decided to form Diner’s Club one evening after he lost his wallet.
• Ole Evinrude helplessly watched his ice cream melt as he carried it in a rowboat to an island picnic.  The frustrating (and messy) event led him to invent the outboard motor.

A new idea is delicate.  It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow. - Charles Brower

I’ve saved my favorite master of ideas for last.  What makes George Washington Carver so remarkable is the fact that, as a black man living in the late 1800s and early 1900s - he probably saw more yawns than a bedtime story.  But he never let doubters or their sneers or snips get in the way.  Thankfully, he just kept on keeping on. As a result, we have the adhesives, axle grease, bleach, buttermilk, chili sauce, fuel briquettes, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, mayonnaise, meat tenderizer, metal polish, paper, plastic, pavement, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder, wood stain, and peanut butter that we know and love today.

Mr. Carver also developed a crop rotation method that blew the lid off of southern agriculture.  He, singlehandedly, changed the south from being a one-crop land (cotton) to a multi-crop powerhouse.

Most remarkably, he didn’t profit from his inventions.  To continue his research, he even turned away from a $100,000 a year salary.  That’s almost a million dollars today!

About his ideas, George Washington Carver said, “God gave them to me.  How can I sell them to someone else?”

An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied. - Arnold H. Glasgow 

[ More Quotes about Ideas ]

Okay, so the post title already warned you:  I’m about to whip out my “Over-Simplifying Hat” and pop it on my head.

Hat in place and we’re off…

At what point did our society become a Makeover Society? When did we all become Bob the Builders and Helper Wendys looking for something to fix?  Nothing wrong with wanting to help others - I’m a card-carrying member of the Save the World club.  But, somewhere along the way, far too many people have gotten carried away.

EXAMPLE 1.

My family and I went to a particular church for a while.  We came to love quite a few people there as they were our own family. When we first joined, we noticed that the church leaders were kind of “picky” about certain things.  Then the pickiness, which was nurtured and allowed to grow, did just that.  It grew into a pile of Overly Critical nonsense.  The type of nonsense that does anything but draw people in.

From The Cosby Show to ladies perfume (wish I were kidding), the church leaders left no stone unturned or unthrown.

The final straw?  A young, zealous to the point of foaming at the mouth, youth leader was ranting about something he’d found in a teenager’s room. I braced myself, with one eye on the young person hanging their head down in the front row - I was ready for the worst.  The outraged young man reached under the pulpit and pulled out a rolled up poster.  As he starts to unroll it, most of us can’t make up our minds if we want to look or not.  Mothers were shielding young eyes as I considered shielding my husbands….then, I look at the poster in all of it’s unrolled glory. It was a Lion’s King poster. Animated lions from a Walt Disney movie had caused all the furor.

My jaw never recovered from that drop.

THAT’S what you get when you make it your mission to police the world and everyone in it. Ultimately, you set out to find all the WRONGS and ultimately, you find them.  Then, like a hunter gone mad, you press on to find more WRONGS.  When that’s the only thing on your mind, ultimately you begin to see the bad in everything. Even animated movies. Ultimately, that’s what you want - finding wrongs to a Fault Finder is like Pac Man finding fruit:  BONUS POINTS, BABY!

Oh, one more ultimately - Ultimately, you end up looking like a buffoon.

Another example…not quite as outlandish…is the Health Nuts.  Just like most Church Leaders, Health Fanatics have something wonderful to share (I’m giving the edge here to the Church Leaders, though - for obvious reasons.) - better living, happier lives, and improved health.  Great stuff.

H-O-W-E-V-E-R, I’ve noticed a trend with some of these well-meaning men and women. At the rate they’re going, inside of a year there’ll be nothing left they’ll allow us to eat or drink other than green tea.  I have a great interest in healthy eating, so I subscribe to about 4 different newsletters.  In addition, there’s one I love that my husband forwards me as well.  Yes, there are some foods that are bad for us - foods that make our hearts and arteries incredibly unhappy.

But, come on….everything?  There are some of these people that I’d love to spy on in the grocery store.  Can you imagine what their cart must look like?  Carrot Juice, Green Tea, tomatoes, and…. I dunno, white turkey meat.  But they can’t grill it, of course - that, somewhere along the way became a no no.  Maybe they’ll boil it.  Yum.

Again, I know I’m over-simplifying - and I’m fully aware that we need to know about the baddies in life. I’m just saying that if you look hard enough for bad, you’ll find it. And if bad is all you ever look for, that’s all you’ll ever see - then, you’ll have your own Lion King Poster moment, and it isn’t pretty.

 I suppose if one looked long enough at Eva Longoria they’d find a flaw. But why would you want to? Personally, I think it’s a cool idea to look for the good things around us.  No, not to the point of grabbing an umbrealla and hopping from roof to roof in black stockings….unless, of course, you’re up to  it.

Remember, the world’s a pretty amazing place.  If you want it to be.

In my family’s Web-Publishing business, we often look at rare, out-of-print books in the public domain. Occasionally one will have a timelessness about it, allowing it to be given new life and a second chance to enlighten and entertain a new generation of knowledge-seeking, eager readers. For book lovers, like myself, this is too exciting to even describe.

Nine times out of ten, however, they’re simply too out-dated in their terminology, approach, and/or overall message.  However, there’ll often be a passage (sometimes even a chapter) that I’ll use on my websites or blogs.  This allows the author to sort of “Time Travel” into our modern day and find a whole new audience. 

Today’s Time-Traveller is one of my favorite authors:  Grenville Kleiser.  Even before I had books for business partners, I collected them for my own personal use.  Mr. Kleiser had his own personal shelf - he still has it….great property, too - a Penthouse shelf.  Thanks to by husband’s ebay skills, I nearly have every word Grenville Kleiser ever wrote!

Ina book published in 1917, INSPIRATION AND IDEALS, Grenville Kleiser wrote an inspirational entry for each day of the year.  Kind of a time-lined blog in a book.  But he was so much better about being concise and to the point than I could ever hope to be.  I tend to ramble like an 85 year old substitute teacher with purple hair, cracker breath, and sensible shoes.

I was reading through this book over coffee earlier, picking out quotes for the Quote Collection like they were grapes on a vine.  One of the entries was so perfectly perfect and so brilliantly brilliant that I knew what it had in mind:  It wanted to come back to life in a blog post.

So without further delay…or rambling (See?!  See?!?!), here is the entry as it appeared in 1917.  Some things really are timeless.

To be strong and true;  to be generous in praise and appreciation of others; to impute worthy motives even to enemies; to give without expectation of return; to practise humility, tolerance, and self-restraint; to make the best use of time and opportunity; to keep the mind pure and the judgment charitable; to extend intelligent sympathy to those in distress; to cultivate quietness and non-resistance; to speak little and listen much; to adhere always to a high standard of thought, purpose, and conduct; to grow in grace, goodness, and gratitude;  to seek truth and righteousness; to work, love, pray, and serve daily; to aspire greatly, labor cheerfully, and take God at His word - this is to travel Heavenward.

One of my favorite authors, Maya Angelou, hit the unhappy nail on the head when she said, “Frowning makes you ugly.”  If you’ll notice, most pictures you see of the great lady are smiling…okay, she’s smiling, the picture, itself, isn’t exactly smiling.

(Uh, yeah, I just “word-policed” myself.)

I thought of that saying a few days ago when I was at the mall.  So many people buzzing around - and, it seemed, that 8 out of 10 looked mad or unhappy.  I’ve seen happier faces in emergency rooms.  Now, I’m not expecting everyone I see to look like a morning talk show host.  If everyone was all pressed and smiling ear to ear I might think I was in the middle of a Sci-Fi novel and that they’re happy faces were about to peel away - revealing skin covered with green scales and eyes that glowed red hatred. Not a scene I want to be caught inside of.

I’m really not trying to blow sunshine up the world’s collective butt, I’m just saying that some people get stuck in a funk. A funk of telling themselves, and the world, that they’re feeling down…sad…mad…depressed…whatever unjoyous feeling they’re embracing at the moment.  Young people are so fond of the funk, they’ve even named it - emo. 

You only name something if you want it to stick around.  I mean, my husband has always known that.  He has always realized that the minute I name a stray cat, dog, raccoon, possum - whatever - it is officially part of our family.  He usually doesn’t blink…he just heads off for food to feed it/them.  He did, however, raise an eyebrow when I said I had left some dry cat food out for Stinky. I guess the name gave my cute, quiet little friend away.  

That’s the way it works, you name it…it’s yours.  Whether the name is Stinky, Emo, Depression, the Blues - if you want it, invite it in, give it a name, and sure enough, it’ll dwell with you as long as you keep calling for it.

Why not invite something better in?  Give it a name like Excited, Hopeful, Upbeat, Happy…then ivite it to stick around.  Call on it enough and it’ll move right in.

While I’m on the subject, why are so many people so freakin’ obnoxious? There’s a select number of people who just go around trying to make everyone else as miserable and gloomy as they are.  They seem to think that by unleashing their nastiness on everyone else, they’ll make them as cranky and cantankerous as they are. Ill-tempered, quarrelsome, disagreeable little pestilences - I’d take Stinky over them, any day.  Truth be known, I feel for them.  The people who never have a good word to say (let alone two)…instead of getting mad at them, I’ve come to feel sorry for them.  Can you imagine how miserable it must be to be them? Emo adults are the stuff nightmares are made of.

Like every post I do - whether it’s sharing the ramblings inside of my own head, like this one, or sharing a quote or story that I hope will move you as it did me…I do it from a good place:  My home office.  No, just kidding (not that my office isn’t a good place)…I do it from the heart.  I honestly care about other people - that would be you - and if I ever think I’ve come across something that might slap a smile on your face, give a squeeze to your heart, or drop a thought in your head…I’ll be slapping, squeezing, and dropping like I’m in a hip hop video.

Abraham Lincoln said that we’re all about as happy as we want to be.  And, while there are medical exceptions, truth lives inside of his words. He was Abraham Lincoln, after all! If you’ve been down lately, pick yourself up.  Kick out the family of negative terminolgy and invite the Positives in. 

They’re much better houseguests.

Click on the link to see a cartoon of a boy-ish emo kid.  I thought it was funny…or sad - I forget which.  http://www.phatcowcartoons.com/images/Original/emo_kids_suck___by_c_t_supahfly.jpg

It always strikes me, and it is very peculiar, that when we see the image of indescribable and unutterable desolation - of loneliness, of poverty and misery, the end of all things, or their extreme - then rises in our mind the thought of God.  - Vincent van Gogh

I’ve been thinking this morning (dangerous, I know).  When something goes wrong or just to the right of perfect, the majority of us blame whomever is in charge. I’m as guilty as anyone. For example, the other night my beloved St. Louis Cardinals fell behind early in a game against the Brewers.  Our pitcher threw a few pitches that my arthritic 18 year old cat could have hit.  Did I grumble at the batter(s) for having the audacity to swing?  No.  Did I grumble at Yadier Molina for not giving different signs?  Heck no (my youngest daughter loves him and would have thrown something at me).  Did I call out the pitcher, himself?  Oddly enough, no.  In between bites of popcorn, I went after the head honcho with a “LaRussa!” 

When prices go up or something ugly happens in the world, we blame the individual in the oval office.  Clinton was to blame for all of the world’s problems when he was in office and Bush gets them laid at his feet when he’s in office.  Fair?  No, of course not.  What’s even more out of whack is the number of Republicans who were watching with baited breath for Clinton to mess up and the Democrats who are doing the same with Bush.

However, even worse than the scenarios above is the deal God gets.  Whenever there’s a tornado, hurricane, war, or human suffering of any kind - THEN God’s name comes up.  How could God let this happen! 

It’s sad, when you think about it.  Every minute in the day, there’s a miracle happening somewhere in the world.  Yet, God’s name is rarely mentioned as the source.  But let something bad happen and His is the first name brought up.

We should all be just as quick to praise and applaud as we are to criticize and blame.  Quicker.

Don’t look for God where He is needed most; if you didn’t bring Him there, He isn’t there.  - Mignon McLaughlin

I posted this once on another blog, but it doesn’t really matter - it’s great stuff and deserves to be repeated.   I’m not sure where it came from, it’s been written down inside of an old notebook of mine as long as I can remember. 

I’ve Learned…

• That we should be glad God doesn’t give us everything we ask for.
• That money doesn’t buy class.
• That it’s those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular.
• That the Lord didn’t do it all in one day…what makes me think I can?
• That under everyone’s hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved.
• That to ignore the facts does not change the facts.
• That when you plan to get even with someone you are only letting that person continue to hurt you.
• That love, not time, heals all wounds.
• That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am.
• That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile.
• That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them.
• That life is tough, but I’m tougher.
• That opportunities are never lost - someone will take the ones you miss.
• That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere.
• That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them.
• That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.
• That I wish I could have told those I cared about that I love them one more time before they passed away.
• That I can’t choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it.
• That it is best to give advice in only two circumstances:  When it is requested, and when it is a life-threatening situation.
• That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.
• That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

One of my daughters e-mailed me the link to a post Mandisa made on her MySpace.  She wrote it at the end of Sanjaya’s American Idol run.  It was so moving and sweet that it left tears in my eyes - not tears of sadness, but tears of amazement. 

MySpace is, primarily, a place where people promote themselves.  It’s covered with young girls and boys (and not so young girls and boys) who post pictures of themselves in various stages of dress and undress. Here I am laughing (I’m just funny that way…), Here I am making a mad face (You’d better not mess with me…), Here I am sitting on the john (Oh my gawd, is that sexy or whut…).  A recent AI contestant took it a step further and, in addition to the john picture, included a patriotic set of pics of her on a war memorial. 

Another recent contestant, after making her exit, hastily added nude pictures to her MySpace page.  It’s like it hit  her: Wait a minute! I don’t have any talent! Plan B!

Then like a candle burning in the middle of the night, you have someone like beautiful Mandisa. Click the link (http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=56974104&blogID=255117148&MyToken=fc13a23c-2f3f-4cce-bbc9-f403c80c8480) for a post you’ll want to read.

Even if you’ve never watched American Idol before and have no idea who either of these young people are - you’ll get something out of her words.  I promise.

At the end of the message, Mandisa encourages everyone to pray for Sanjaya. I propose that, in addition, we all pray for more Mandisas.