Nay-Sayers & Go-Getters

I've called life surrounding this Covid-19 pandemic overwhelming. I think sometimes the "overwhelm" comes from certain things being SO much clearer, than they were before. I don't think it is a bad thing. I think the realization of it, is simply something we haven't been used to.

I would say that I EASILY have conversations with an average of 30 people a day. One of the things that has become a daily norm for me, is figuring out what motivates people. For the most part, people just aren't that transparent & not because they don't want to be, but...it takes courage to be transparent, UNLESS....your scared or nervous or uncomfortable.

Once our government leaders started making recommendations & we all started becoming more aware and educated about COVID-19, I noticed fear & uncertainty motivating behavior in a way that was foreign to me. Please know that my thoughts are my thoughts. They are without judgement. I have learned that God has made some of us "Nay-Sayers" & some of us "Go-Getters," because that is how His plan works. That does not always make it easy for one to understand the other & SOMETIMES....depending on the triggers and motivators, we can be both on different layers. What I saw, was how people (especially those I regularly interact with) handled fear, change, and uncertainty. In fact, I've been able to see how complete strangers react. I have been able to see how some basic reassurance on something unrelated can pull someone out of fear-motivated behavior.

What has become so clear to me is that people lean one way or the other. They search for fault and make excuses to justify behavior they can't understand right now OR they find a way and make a way...the move. Fear, change, & uncertainty motivates people differently. We HAVE to be there for each other. We have to KNOW that we are all doing our best. Some things make some of us scared beyond belief. Some of us are so covered up with something so foreign to us, that we are literally just reacting and doing our best to make it. Some of us know no other way except to find a way and make a way.

The most frustrating place for me in the beginning was the grocery store & not because they didn't have the things I needed. It was frustrating because I was witnessing a clash of the "Nay-Sayers" and the "Go-Getters." I overheard people judging people purchasing boxed meals. I observed as people made comments about people bringing their children with them. I watched as people looked sideways at people with full carts. There was plenty of good things to observe such as: comradery in the uncertain, conversation that was therapeutic between strangers, AMAZING customer service, and kind faces. All these good things did not take away the awareness of the other. It was present with the other.

In an effort to truly document these experiences; fear motivates or triggers people & uncertainty motivates different actions and reactions from people. One thing that I believe to be true, is it is authentically how they are feeling in that moment. The reactionary words may not be how they really feel, but the FEELING....the fear....the confusion, is REAL. Whatever it is, is not good or bad. It just is & we are ALL essential in getting to the other side of this and being there for each other.

I listened to a meditation today & the topic was ACCEPTANCE. When we respect each other enough to LET THEM BE WHO THEY ARE, we release ourselves and them to live and experience and just be. We are ALL struggling & wrestling & we are all in this together. Buck Up Baby & ACCEPT people for who they are, just how they are.

Quote from my Headspace app today. 

I LOVE Headspace: https://www.headspace.com/

I'm also happy to report that today was the MOST PLEASANT the grocery store has been in weeks. There was more people in there than what I've seen lately. There was also more food and necessary products. The entire mood was more positive.

Goodness Gracious! Thank You Jesus!

Hello Everyone!

The end of last year and the beginning of this year has been....(and still is) filled with some mental turmoil about a few important things that I have NO idea what will happen with them, where we will be, and how we will be effected. One thing that is FOR SURE is that there WILL be some sort of change....soon.

I PRAY....all the time. I say short prayers all throughout the day, but let me tell you....the devil is at work...CONSTANTLY. In 100% honesty I have been WORRYING  about the current situation I have found myself in NON-STOP. I've been praying and asking for guidance, strength, needed knowledge, etc. The one thing that I HAVE NOT been doing, is actually TRUSTING the GOOD LORD to let the HOLY SPIRIT work in my life. A beautiful ANGEL friend made me quite AWARE of this -this past weekend. Let me tell you....sometimes you need to have someone take you and SHAKE YOU!

I sent in something that would exhibit my strong interest in something that seems like it could, positively, affect our lives - and after I sent it....EVERYONE in the room PRAYED over it. My sweet friend, her sister-in-law, my sweet little girl, my husband, and myself. It was APPARENT that the HOLY SPIRIT was in that room, right there with us. We all felt it! Yet somehow... I found a way (with the devil's help) to  continue to WORRY about the situation that we just GAVE TO GOD TO HANDLE.

I'm the kind of person that likes to be PREPARED. It's important to know that I DO NOT have control over anything, EXCEPT my actions and reactions. So...I trot into my friend's sewing room and start asking her what MY next steps should be IF this doesn't happen, or if THAT happens, or what the result COULD be.

She stops me and reminds me of the prayer we just had, the presence of the HOLY SPIRIT. She flat told me....YOU NEED TO LET IT ALONE AND LET THE GOOD LORD TAKE CARE OF IT. If this situation doesn't pan out like I would like it to...that door will close and another will open. I know that. I need to act like I believe it!

Let me tell you....I had an OVERWHELMING feeling of PEACE yesterday. So much so....that it felt like something was OFF kilter. It made me realize how much WORRY was in my life. I actually stayed up until almost 11pm letting Kylee make me dinner (with her play food and kitchen). I was also able to see things a little clearer. I FOCUSED on what I DO know. The things I don't....I won't worry about.

I've also found myself on the edge of a REALLY interesting place that I always wanted to be....that place where you THROW all the WORRIES, EXPECTATIONS, what people think you HAVE to do/be to be successful OUT THE WINDOW!! (Watch out, so you don't get knocked in the head.) This has to do with ALL of life, not JUST the current situation.

Life is TOO short to WORRY about all the things that COULD be. The bottom line of it all is: What will be, will be. I need to ENJOY life and TRUST that we will be okay...no matter the outcome. I DO know that, I just have to start acting like I BELIEVE it and LIVE it.

It takes quite a bit for me to get OVERWHELMED. I was there. In ALL situations KNOW that GOD is the end all, be all, ALL-KNOWING SAVIOR of this world and YOUR world.

I want to leave you with a few quotes that have helped me rein in my thoughts a little over the past few weeks. Thank you TWITTER! GO FIND ME!!! @hdskaspar :) That would make me happy.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"The only thing that makes life possible is permanent, intolerable uncertainty not knowing what comes next. - Ursula K. LeGuin

"Someday could be one moment away." - Disney

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

"I want to feel my life. I want to stop agreeing to things I don't really want." - from Living Out Loud (1998)

"Let no man pull you low enough to hate him." -Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Know that the pain will pass, and, when it passes, you will be stronger, happier, more sensitive and aware." - Mel Colgrove

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds." - Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Ambition and love are the wings to great deeds." - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip." - Daniel L. Reardon

"Don't go through life, grow through life." - Eric Butterworth

"The most important persuasion tool you have in your entire arsenal is integrity." - Zig Ziglar

"Keep your chin up." - Disney

"Man imposes his own limitations. Don't set any." - Anthony Baily

"A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with. A man is what he makes of himself." - Alexander Graham Bell

"You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough." -Mae West

"Strong reasons make strong actions." - William Shakespere

"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it." - Maya Angelou

"A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men." - Roald Dahl

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails." -William Arthur Ward

"You cannot live your life to please others. The choice must be yours. " -Alice in Wonderland (2010)

"People may forget what you said but they'll never forget how you made them feel." - Maya Angelou

"If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it. " - William Arthur Ward

I live my life with the constant thought to BUCK UP BABY!! Be aware that sometimes our RESPONSIBILITIES, FEARS, DRAMA, UNCERTAINTY...can CONSUME us - before we even know it. Stay steadfast in PRAYER and look for your ANGELS.

GOODNESS GRACIOUS, THANK YOU JESUS...for being a presence in my life and guiding me when I feel lost!... "but the path of the just is like a shining light: it advances and increases, even to the day of completion." - Proverbs 4:18

I have 2 fun (at least they are fun to me) blogs coming out this week yet. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!