Monday, October 28, 2013

Count Your Blessings

When I was little we spent a lot of time at my grandparents'.  I remember watching Wheel Of Fortune while eating homemade pizza, tacos, hot dogs, or some other kid-friendly food that my grandma made for us.  She'd always add sugar to our cereal at breakfast time and I loved it!  She always had honey buns as well, because sugar in your cereal isn't enough, you have to have a honey bun to go along with it.  My grandparents had this yard filled with trees and bushes.  My brother and I would always imagine we were on some adventure (Imagine Lord of The Rings) with swords fighting some monster.  If it was cold my grandpa would build a fire, he'd scoop up some ice cream for us.  He had these cookies he ate every morning with his coffee.  We all called them "grandpa cookies" and he LOVED when we would come to him and ask, "Grandpa?  Can I, please, have a grandpa cookie?"  He'd smile at me, lean forward and pat his cheek with his index finger. I'd kiss his cheek and he'd hand me a cookie. There are so many memories of my grandparents, including my grandma's way of teaching us to be thankful for all that we had. I remember whining about something we wanted but didn't get one day while at my grandparents'.  Grandpa was outside working on something and grandma was listening to us complain.  She let us complain for a few minutes and then she started singing from the kitchen, "Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your blessings, see what God has done.  Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your many blessings see what God has done."  I won't lie to you.  I started giggling.  Having your grandma break out in song as if you were inside a musical was strange and funny to me.  She said, "You should think about all that you have and not so much on what you don't have."  How right she was.

This afternoon I was in the kitchen peeling and chopping potatoes for a yummy, Creamy Potato and Bacon Soup for dinner.

Suddenly, I hear Logan humming and I realize what song it is.  He was sitting at his desk, eating marshmallows (his snack choice) and was just humming away.  "Count your blessings, name them one by one."  I smiled at him and said, "I like that song."  He said, "Me too!" 

So often we get caught up in everything that is going wrong.  Life is filled with little stress factors and annoying inconveniences.  And, sadly, we humans seem to think that we should have everything we want. Jacob and I both try to teach our children to be thankful for all that they have (especially this time of year when they are bombarded with new Christmas toys and games and we constantly hear, "I want that!").  It's time to stop and look around and name all of our many blessings one by one!

And . . . how very blessed we are!

Friday, October 11, 2013

The Audrey Hepburn Lesson

As most of you know, I love Audrey Hepburn.  I know she passed away 20 years ago from colon cancer, but I still love her.  I love her movies because they are classy, smart and, for the most part, fun. I not only like her because of her movies and her acting, but because of who she was as a human being.  Those closest to her claimed she was humble, giving, and kind.  She had a reputation of being charming, which was hard to miss. She was the epitome of glamorous, classiness, and a number of other things.  She was (and still is) well loved. She had a love for children and was a special ambassador to UNICEF.  Her eldest son stated once that she lost a lot of weight during this time because she refused to eat if the children around her couldn't eat and would often give up her food to the starving children. I know she wasn't perfect, no one is, and I'm trying to make her out to be perfect, but it seems she was not only beautiful on the outside but on the inside as well.  

While she was well loved and many saw her as this glamorous person, she didn't feel the same.  She thought her nose was too big.  She thought her feet were too big.  She thought she was too thin.  Her son even stated that she would look in the mirror and ask why people thought she was pretty.

Do I have a point?  Yes.  Yes, I do have a point.  We all look in the mirror and see things we don't like. I too, look in the mirror and think my nose is too big, among other things.   I think Audrey Hepburn was a beautiful woman, yet, she didn't agree.  Do you see where I'm going with this? EVEN the beautiful Audrey Hepburn didn't see herself as beautiful. There were even accounts of a couple of people she worked with who stated that they did not think she was beautiful but she "Moved people" and that was a great thing to have in a star.

So, the next time you look in the mirror and find NOTHING you like, remember that the beautiful Audrey Hepburn couldn't find much to like about herself either.  The next time some one makes a negative comment about you and it stings, remember that there were people who didn't think Audrey Hepburn was beautiful.  Look in the mirror and remind yourself that beauty is in the eye of the beholder . . . and it's not a competition.  I don't have to be tall to be beautiful.  I don't have to be tan to be beautiful.  I can have a nose that I think is too big.  A nose that is crooked.  I can have freckles and huge eyes and a goofy smile and STILL be beautiful.

It's easy to forget this.  I have a friend who NEEDS to be reminded of this right now and this blog entry is for her.  You ARE beautiful. The mirror is a cruel liar sometimes . . . it's time to set it straight. ;)


Thursday, October 10, 2013

Signs Of Happy


This is me. A woman in her mid 30s who is HAPPY with her life.  Once upon a time I would look at pictures of myself and pick myself apart. Why?
I made a comment about the wrinkles around my eyes and Logan said, "Those are smile lines because I see them when you're smiling and you're always smiling!  Grumpy people don't have those.  I'd rather be happy and have a few signs of happy on my face than be grumpy and never smile."  Have I mentioned that I love this kid?  As women we all have days where we look in the mirror and pick ourselves apart.  We see nothing we like . . . nothing good.  My best friend always says she wishes I could see myself the way she sees me.  I am a grown woman with freckles, some gray in my hair, and some wrinkles.  And you know, I'm okay with all that.  I agree with my big-hearted little guy . . . it IS better to be happy and have signs of happy on your face.  And, I have to say that I love that he said I am always smiling.  What an amazing compliment to receive--especially from a 7-year-old boy! Now when I look at myself I have one more positive thing to say about my face--signs of happy. ;)

And why shouldn't we ALL have signs of happy???