Inspiration Wednesday: Hello, Charlie Brown

One of my co-workers is a BIG Charlie Brown fan. He has miniatures all over the place, and every so often, he changes them up. Today, while walking past his desk, feeling quite down (I'll explain why in a bit), I saw this and it put a smile on my face.

I am so very blessed to have my son after waiting for him for so long. But sleepless nights and I do not get along. At all. Eidan sleeps through the night most of the time, but since he has learned how to roll over and work around, he does it in his sleep and wakes himself up several times a night. I've been feeling like such a zombie at work and yesterday, I made a big mistake with something extremely important. Luckily, my boss caught it before it went viral. But that really bummed me out. I'm such a Type A, Virgo perfectionist, I do not like making mistakes, especially not at work AND when millions of $$ are at stake!

Let's get back to my inspiration for this week. I know it's not much of a "down", me feeling this way. It was just a nice reminder that things always have a way of working out. I emailed this picture I took to a friend who just broke things off with her boyfriend of several years. And it also made me think of another friend who got laid off, divorced, and is now having to sell her home (all in a span of a year). There are so many things that happen to bring us down. But we need to look at the bright side of things. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. We might not always understand it at the time it's happening, but one day, we will. And things will always go back up. We just need to muck through the lows, and when we get to the highs, really live it up.

Inspiration Wednesday: Chicken Soup for the Soul

IN high school, I started reading the Chicken Soup for the Soul books and all its reincarnations (Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, CS for Dads and Daughters, etc,etc...). I would stay up late at night with a flashlight under the covers long after my dad would tell me to sleep, reading and essentially, feeding my soul.

I loved all the anecdotes about life. The stories of love won, and love lost. Of triumph and challenges overcome. I read about grief, and overcoming it. I devoured these pages, and learned a lot through them. What I loved most about the books were that the stories were always filled with happiness and hope. No matter the tragic story behind something, or the agonizing decisions made. At the end of each one, I found hope.

These books, through all the collective stories, taught me sympathy and empathy. It inspired me to be a good daughter, sister, friend, girl friend, neighbor, person. It may sound silly to some, especially since they were stories of people I never met and  probably never will in this lifetime, But their words really touched my heart.

What reminded me of my love for these books was seeing one on a co-worker's desk last week. Perhaps, it's time to revisit them once again, and pick one up for Mothers!

Click here for more info about these books. Should you decide to give it a try, I hope you find them as enjoyable as I do!

Inspiration Wednesday: Opportunity

In spite of my attempts to go fully digital, I still cannot help myself and bought a notebook to write in. I think the front cover says it all.

And this is my Inspiration Wednesday. Short and simple, but definitely to the point. It will be a reminder to myself that opportunity is EVERYWHERE, every single day. At work, at home, the opportunity to help out a stranger or put a smile on someone's face. It's everywhere. I just need to be more open to it and be ready to take the plunge.

What was the best opportuity you acted out on?

Inspiration Wednesday: Josh Dueck

When I told a friend I wanted to do "Inspiration Wednesday" posts on my blog, she got really excited and started asking what outfit or item/s I would be spotlighting as the first post.

I told her, I did not want to write about fashion or style, but rather, people, events, photos, and quotes that inspire me. I want to make my Inspiration Wednesday about the inspiration that we see around us everyday.

I was all set to write about a specific event, but this morning, while feeding the little guy and watching Good Morning America before I left for work, I saw something that truly tugged at my heart.

Josh Dueck, a renowned skier, suffered a horrible accident in 2004 which left him paralyzed from the waist down. Now, after almost 8 years, of constant training and pushing his body and will to the limit, he did a momentous back flip at Whistler-Blackcomb. He has been quoted saying, "How you see the world shapes what you can do". I am in complete agreement of this. We cannot let accidents,failures, negativity, and other people put us down. We need to continue to believe in ourselves and never let anything stop us from achieving our dreams.

Here is a link for you to see how this amazing man lived his dreams in spite of the obstacles.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/paraplegic-skier-josh-dueck-lands-back-flip-caught-tape-15537314


Sources: Wikepedia and Good Morning America