Terror, Guts, and a bit of wisdom

"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
-Eleanor Roosevelt

I spoke with a woman last week who has goal to do one thing each day that scares her. At first I laughed because - who would do that?? But I soon realized what a wise goal that is. When we are uncomfortable, we are growing. Instead of just reacting to life, she seeks out these opportunities for growth. Brilliant.

So, with Halloween less than a week away, I have decided to set the same goal. Bring on the terror! Haha. Okay, terror sounds a little over zealous...and masochistic...and I am sure I would set the goal even if Halloween wasn't less than a week away. But you get my point. It is so easy to just sit back and let life happen. I am going to be more willing to get out of my comfort zone and do things that require guts (again with the Halloween lingo! sorry, couldn't resist).

I am sure many of you have already committed to doing this in your own lives. I may very well be the last one to jump on this wagon, but just in case there are others of you out there who hate life's haunted houses, join me...if you dare! Mwa ha ha ha ha.




*for those of you who have not yet witnessed how truly dorky I am, this should bring you "up to speed" pretty quick :) Welcome.

A New Guardian Angel

The world lost an amazing woman this week.
My sweet grandmother
left this life the morning of Saturday, October 3.

My heart is full of gratitude for the goodness she brought to my life and to the lives of each person she knew.

We had a close relationship. As my mother's mother, she was the strongest connection I had to her memory. She was always so open about sharing what my mother would wish in certain situations and was great at keeping her memory alive for me and my brothers and sister.

Grandma didn't sweat the "small stuff"... she celebrated it. She had the ability to find joy in anything - no matter how simple. My mind is filled with memories of days at the park singing on the swings; walks to the hill she would watch us roll down and run back up over and over again; so many Sunday dinners she put so much energy into; phone calls asking what the cutest thing was that Brayden did that day...

When I was a little girl (and I remember this conversation vividly) we made a pact that any time we saw a sunrise or sunset we would think of each other. From that pact until as recent as a few weeks ago, she would end each letter or conversation with "remember the sunrises and sunsets!" This will always be something very special to me, and every time I look at this big North Dakota sky I think of her.

I hope to one day have the purity of heart and the Christlike love for the people around me that Grandma had. She was a true lady ... always concerned with the well-being of others, always thinking of ways to make others happy. I will make an effort to be better at this - in her honor.

For years since the passing of my beautiful Mother I have been lucky to have a personal Guardian Angel watching over me ... Now I have one more.