Author: terriplace89

Have you ever watched a sporting event?  Better yet, participated in one?  There are life lessons that we can learn from athletic competitions.  Athletes are good examples of discipline and perseverance.   Successful athletes have developed the ability to push the limits of their potential and recover quickly from setbacks.  Any athlete will tell you that it’s all about practice, practice, practice!  And that physical training is intrinsically linked to mental training. 

You don’t have to be an athlete to adopt an athletic attitude in your life.  In all of our lives, we face daily competitions in our minds.  It is a competition between positive thoughts and negative ones.  Our competitions aren’t on a stage for all to see, they are within us – in our minds – against our own thoughts.  But when we tackle these challenges like an athlete and the positive thoughts win, that victory is as important to us as any gold medal. 

Athletes repeatedly practice their skills, which takes mental and physical discipline.  We can train our minds to hold on to the positive thoughts and let go of the negative rhetoric by repeatedly choosing to do so.  We discipline ourselves to control our thoughts, so that we can think positively and not allow the negatives of life to overcome us.  With practice and perseverance, we can develop a habit of regularly confessing positives.  Just like athletes, we won’t win every time, but with practice we will learn to handle situations productively by our convictions. 

Our bodies are supposed to obey our minds.  When we discipline our minds, we take control of our bodies.  Bad habits are formed by our bodies not following that plan.  For example, I have a giant sweet tooth.  If my tastebuds had their way, I would have donuts for breakfast, cookies for lunch, cake and ice cream for dinner, and a candy snack in between.  I know that it’s unhealthy to eat that way, so my mind must overrule my sweet tooth’s demands and I must discipline my sweet tooth to listen to reason.  As long I keep the mental and physical in proper order, I can control those cravings.  This takes a deliberate decision, practice, and thinking like an athlete. 

Mental discipline also governs our moods and emotions. Some people think that controlling their emotions means having none.  If you are anything like me, that is not possible.  But there is a fine line between controlling our emotions and our emotions controlling us.  I think this is easy to understand if we think about anger.  We all recognize that anger needs to be contained.  And this is done by utilizing our disciplined thinking to keep that emotion under control.  Other emotions / moods can be handled in this manner as well.  There will be times that we are sad, but we can’t stay sad.  When we are ready, we must decide to put that sadness behind us.  On the other end of the spectrum, we want to be happy.  Happy is not a bad thing.  But we can’t allow happy* to be the deciding factor.  Again, looking at my sweet tooth.  Eating sweets makes me happy.  But the repercussions of allowing that happiness to be in charge are obvious.  When we govern our emotions, we can be happy without happy being in control.  (*point of clarity – “happy” used here is in the context of it being derived from external sources, which can actually drive people to obsession if left unchecked.  This happy is not the same as contentment, joy, or satisfaction that comes from inside us)

Athletic competitions give us good mind pictures to help us in our contests.  For example, I often picture a hurdler when I think about life.  As we are running the race of life there will be hurdles.  But if we maintain our stride, we can get over them.  What about the team who is losing at half-time, but rallies in the second half to win the game?  Isn’t that victory even more victorious?  We also can rally in a situation that seems to be beating us, and win in the end.  And those are such rewarding victories!   Think about ice skaters who fall during their performances.  We admire them because they get up and continue skating.  We can have that same kind of determination to not quit when we fall.  Like those skaters, if we get knocked down, we can and must get ourselves up and try again. 

Think about sports movies.  Several of those are on my favorites list.  Why?  Not because I’m such a great sports fan, but because they depict the underdog succeeding.  The person or team that looks like they don’t stand a chance, WINS against the opposing bully!  And when that happens, we cheer and rejoice.  I’ve been in theaters when the whole audience actually applauded and shouted out loud.  We rejoice at those movies because we identify with those characters.  We know that there are times in life when we are the underdogs.  When it doesn’t look like we have a chance of succeeding against that one particular bully who is opposing us at every turn.  But we can win by our positive conviction, our dedication to prayer, and God’s help!  Then when we get our victory, everyone celebrates just like in the movies. Defeating the bully is a universally satisfying win. 

Like an athlete, through practice, we must discipline our minds and bodies so we can successfully meet the challenges of life.  Athletes compete against other athletes or against assigned obstacles or both.  We compete against negative influences in our minds so we can maintain a positive lifestyle.  Athletes receive trophies, medals, or monetary rewards for their success.  We receive a life well lived.  Sometimes the whole world celebrates an athlete’s victory.  Many times, we are the only ones who know about ours.  However, even though our victories may not bring us recognition or fame, they make a difference in our lives, which can be far reaching.

Any one of us can be a great athlete in the competition in our minds.  Through practice, we can train our minds to expand our possibilities and overcome our adversities.  Whatever our challenge is, we can be champions when we have determination, prayer, and God’s help.  We can think like an athlete with discipline and perseverance, and we can stand in the winner’s circle on the podium of our positive conviction. 

Note to my readers:  I don’t want to sound like a broken record, (I wonder if young people will get that reference??) but again I thank you for continuing to read my writings.  I certainly hope that they are blessing you, uplifting you, and giving you a fresh perspective.  You are the best!! 

As far back as I can remember, New Year’s Day has been celebrated as a new start.  The new year would hold promise that everything would be better.  The new year would open vistas of new possibilities to explore and new opportunities for change.  In this current climate, we certainly hope all that is true for 2021.  But we also know that there is no fairy-tale remedy that occurs just because we turn a page on the calendar. 

The nature of the human body is to heal itself.  Any doctor would attest to that.  It is the way we were designed.  Medical practices are basically intended to work with that fact.  So also, is the nature of life.  It is designed to recover from calamities.  Think of how trees grow again after a forest fire.  Even without man’s help, nature’s determination is to restore itself.  All kinds of hurts in life can get better with proper care and time – a broken heart, a financial wound, a crippling blow.  We can recover from many conditions by working with this innate principle of healing and having the right treatment plan. 

There is no ‘one size fits all’ treatment regimen that will cure all that ails us.  But there are keys we can utilize to facilitate a successful outcome of whatever our ailment is.  Believing and patience are two of those keys.

Believing is not wishing.  We cannot sit on our laurels and do nothing and expect results.  For example, if we want to lose weight or get in shape, we can’t sit on the couch all day and wish for it to happen.  We all know that won’t work.  And we all know what it takes to make that goal happen.   What about other conditions?  Do we wish for a solution or do we believe?  The primary difference between the two is action.  Wishing is thinking that a solution will somehow magically come and fix things; believing is pursuing the solution until you get it.      

To believe is a verb.  A verb denotes action.  Believing action produces results.  If I said to you, “make a peace sign with your fingers”, and you did it, that is a result of believing. You believed the words I said, and you believed that you could do it, so you did it.  It’s that simple.  Notice that I said, ‘simple’.  It is always simple, but it’s not always easy.  The difficulty in believing comes from the opposing evidence we receive or perceive.  If your arm were paralyzed, that evidence would make it much harder to believe to make a peace sign, however, not impossible.  Or if you were told all your life that you couldn’t make a peace sign, that perception would interfere with your believing results as well.

Believing is a principle that works.  But we must understand that believing can be either positive or negative, (negative believing is fear).  Both produce their respective results, so we must be careful to keep our believing positive and not allow fear to have a place in our lives.  Maintaining a positive believing attitude will bring positive solutions to our problems.  But those solutions may not be instantaneous.  What then?  This is when patience is needed. 

Patience is basically not giving up on our believing.  When faced with an obstacle, often initially we are confident that we can overcome it.  But when our attempts start to fail, our confidence wanes.  Patience enables us to keep trying.  Patience tells us not to quit.  Patience tells us that we can succeed.  Patience allows us to have peace in the midst of adversity.

So, if you are hoping that the new year will bring great change and deliverance in your life, go for it!  Not just because it’s a new year, but because you have positive believing that you will succeed.  You understand that the nature of life is to restore itself.  And you can patiently carry on until you receive your victory.  Life is full of new beginnings, grab yours now.

Oh, and one more thing… don’t forget to say thanks for your success.

Note to my readers:  Here’s to a prosperous and blessed 2021!  Thank you for continuing with me on my journey. 

Holidays are designated days for special celebration and reflection.  They provide the opportunity to recognize notable people, events, or accomplishments, which always should be considered along with the celebration.  Some holidays are more widely observed and full of traditions than others, and the December ones definitely fit that category.  For the most part, these holidays are spent with family and friends and are happy times.  However, many of us are dealing with circumstances this year that may be overshadowing our holiday festivities.  At these times, we may not feel like celebrating, but we can still reflect on the reason for the holiday.  Remembering the meaning behind the holiday can bring us peace, comfort, and joy that no worldly circumstances can take away.  And for that, we can be thankful.  In addition, memories of our past holidays can bring a smile to our face.

I have a fond place in my heart for Christmas because of our family traditions and my memories.  Although these traditions have changed through the years (of necessity, circumstances change – traditions change), I still look forward to the decorations, the gift giving, and the time with family and friends that Christmastime offers. 

One of my favorite childhood family traditions was our Christmas stockings.  Our stockings were not decorated socks hung on the mantel.  They were nylon stockings stuffed full of presents that were hung on our bedroom doorknobs while we slept on Christmas Eve.  They were filled with 15 to 20 little packages that we were allowed to unwrap and play with as soon as we woke up.  It was an exciting prelude to the day’s activities!   And thinking back, it was a rather brilliant plan that allowed my parents a little extra time to sleep on Christmas morning.

Family traditions build family ties and are sources of lovely memories.  My memories of Christmas as a child are special to me and give me great appreciation for my parents.  My memories of Christmas as a mother and grandmother are equally special.  This post would be many pages long if I tried to write about all of those.

When I became a parent, I wanted to share my family traditions with my kids and hopefully give them good memories too.  We did the stockings (although, it became gift bags because nylon stockings were hard to come by), and Christmas poppers, among other things.  And we developed our own traditions like our Christmas Eve appetizer feast and opening one present that night.  Now I get to see the traditions that my kids are building with their families.  And the best part of all – is that through the whole progression, I get more and more wonderful memories that bless my heart. 

I sincerely pray that this holiday season is a blessed time for you and your family and friends (whether together or apart).  I pray that you have heartwarming memories of your own holiday traditions and that you continue to enjoy sharing those traditions and building new ones.  I pray that taking time to remember the reason for the holiday brings you peace.  There is much to be thankful for. 

Note to my readers:  Thank you again for spending some time with me.  Much love to you and your families.

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about being thankful and blessed.  These two words are popularly used (often together) in polite conversation, or for wall décor or greeting cards.  However, they should have a much deeper reality in our lives than just being pleasant words.  The attitude of being thankful and the condition of being blessed are our daily bread.  They go hand in hand because when we get blessed, we are thankful; and when we are thankful, we get blessed.  It’s a wonderful cycle that helps to keep us going day after day.

Here are ten things for which I am thankful:

1. That I woke up this morning (in other words, I’m still alive)
2. That I am saved (with all that it entails, like going to heaven!)
3. That I have a Bible (so I can know the truth)
4. That I am married (my husband puts up with my shenanigans)
5. That I have a terrific family (I don’t mean to brag, but they are outstanding!)
6. That I have wonderful friends (they are the best!)
7. That I live in the United States of America (a country founded on freedom)
8. That I have food, clothing, and shelter (my needs are met)
9. That I can pray (I don’t know what I’d do without this one)
10. That I can love and be loved (which is the greatest of them all)

These are some of the things that I have been blessed with and am thankful for.  This of course, is not my complete list and my items may be different from yours.  But it may give you some ideas for your list if you don’t already have one. 

Every day that we wake up is an opportunity for success.  We cannot change the past and we don’t know what the future holds, so we only have today.  What if your life is a mess?  Today, that all could change.  What if you’re happy as a clam?  Today is another chance to enjoy it. 

Overall, our lives are governed by our convictions.  Determining that we will be thankful each day will open the doors for great blessings, which in turn will give us many reasons to be thankful.   And then continuing to be thankful every day will put us in the position to receive more blessings.  Isn’t that an amazing way to live? 

Our lives aren’t always happy because situations occur that take our happiness away.  But even in those difficult times, we can find something to be thankful for, even if it’s only for running water.  Holding on to our conviction to be thankful through the hard times allows us to see the light at the end of the tunnel and paves the way for us to get to it. 

Genuine thankfulness prevents a multitude of negative thoughts, like selfishness, greed, and jealousy.  And it fosters a multitude of positive thoughts, like caring, giving and selflessness.  And really, isn’t that the kind of life we want to have?  A life of being selfless rather than selfish, of being a giver rather than a taker?  I know that I strive to emulate the qualities that I admire in others – generosity is a good example.  Thankfulness is a step in the right direction toward being that person we sincerely want to be.

It’s the giving we do in life that provides us with real purpose.  Thankfulness takes the focus off ourselves so that we can focus on the truly meaningful things in life, like helping others.  My greatest joy comes from being a blessing – not just from receiving one (although I’m thankful for the ones that I receive!).  If I can touch someone’s heart, if I can help and support someone in need, I am fulfilled.  I can also rejoice in others’ good fortune whether I had anything to do with it or not because I’m thankful for their blessings and I realize that it is “not all about me”.  And you know what the most unbelievable thing is about being selfless?  That when we seek to bless others and look beyond ourselves, we get abundantly blessed, which leads to an even more thank-filled life.  It’s a fantastic win-win lifestyle! 

So, let’s maintain an attitude of gratitude, and forget not to count our blessings.  Let’s take time to appreciate what we’ve been given and look for ways to share our blessings with others. For doing these things will give us true satisfaction in our lives and help us become the people we genuinely want to be.  We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by being thankful and blessed. 

Note to my readers:   I am thankful and blessed by you.  I sincerely appreciate you giving your time to read my writings.  And as always, I hope they bless you. 

Next week’s post will be on Thursday.  Happy Holidays!

In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, The Rainy Day, there is a line which says, “Into each life some rain must fall.”  This has been one of my mottos for a long time because it has rained in my life.  There have been deluges and drizzles; there have been thunderstorms and showers. 

We know that rain isn’t always bad.  Ask any farmer.  Rain is necessary for growing our food.  It is a very welcomed relief after a drought.  Did you ever play in a summer shower as a kid? Remember splashing in puddles and running through raindrops?  It was even better than the sprinkler!  We appreciate these kinds of rain; but what about the storms?

We cannot always control the weather in our lives any more than we can control the actual weather.  And just like the actual weather, storms happen, which on occasion could be quite devastating.  But as we have learned to deal with the actual weather, we can learn to deal with our personal weather as well. 

The first step in dealing with a storm is being prepared.  In actual weather, we collect the proper gear to mitigate the effects of the storm.  From umbrellas to emergency generators, we try to be prepared.  We also take precautions, like closing windows, (especially in our cars!). 

For our personal storms, the proper gear is in our minds. We must collect the thoughts necessary to effectively alleviate the impacts of a storm on our lives.  We take the precaution of having a positive thought pattern ready to use before a storm hits.  This positive pattern is developed by putting the proper constructive thoughts in our minds over and over until they become our habitual way of thinking.  It is a pattern of expecting the best instead of the worst; of having confidence instead of doubt; of trusting instead of worrying; and of clinging to faith instead of fear.  When this faith-based way of thinking is our habit, we will be prepared for any storm. 

In addition, gear must be maintained.  Periodic maintenance of the generator or replacing a tattered umbrella helps keep us ready for actual inclement weather.  Maintaining our positive thought pattern is also necessary for our personal weather.  Negative thoughts are so prevalent in the world today that if we are lax about protecting our positive attitude, negative thoughts will slip in and overshadow it.  Maintaining our positive thought pattern requires our regular attention.

In actual weather, we have learned to recognize a storm’s warning signs.  Our experience has taught us that when the sky is full of clouds and grows dark, it’s probably going to rain.  Recognizing these signs helps us determine what actions we should take.      

Our personal storms may also have warning signs.  We may have experiences or insights that help us recognize that something is wrong.  When we heed these warnings, we can build ourselves up and be guided by our positive thoughts so that we can have a good course of action. 

Think about an actual thunderstorm.  How do you deal with it?  You seek shelter, hunker down, and ride it out.  It might be a little scary and maybe you lose power or sustain some property damage.  But overall, your attitude is, “It’s a storm and it will pass.  I’ve been through this before”.

The same should be our attitude in a personal thunderstorm.  In the middle of it, we might be afraid.  But our experience tells us that it will end, and we will be okay, so we can put away that fear.  With the expectation that “this too shall pass”, we can get ourselves back on track in short order. 

What about the times when it’s overcast and drizzly for days at a time?  Those times aren’t necessarily scary or dangerous, just annoying and gloomy.  I think, though, that these drizzly times in our personal lives can be particularly bothersome.  Frustration can overwrite our positive attitude before we realize it.  These are the times when humor might be a good remedy.  It is important to be able to laugh in the face of annoyance rather than get angry; and smile at the gloom rather than get discouraged.

I was privileged to aid in the relief efforts following Hurricane Katrina.  There was widespread devastation and destruction, the likes of which I had never seen before.  However, we did not focus on the destruction, we focused on the rebuilding.   We did not focus on the loss, we focused on the restoration.  That doesn’t mean that the devastation and destruction were ignored.  It means that people were met with compassion and encouragement for the future.

There may come a time when we experience a personal hurricane in our lives.  Recovery must be our focus in that situation as well.  We cannot dwell on the devastation.   We can shed our tears and allow ourselves the necessary time to heal, then we must look ahead and determine that we WILL get through this circumstance.  We can rely on our habit pattern of positive faith-based thinking to facilitate our success.  And by working through the situation instead of giving up, we can add patience, endurance, and courage to our thought habits.  As was needed in the aftermath of Katrina, we may need help.  We should not be afraid to ask for it, remembering always that prayer is key.  Then once we have recovered, we can add fortitude, thankfulness, rejoicing and victory to our repertoire.

“Into each life some rain must fall” may be true, but it doesn’t have to defeat us.  We may not be able to prevent the rain from falling, but we can be prepared for it by collecting and maintaining the proper thoughts.  We can deal with the effects of the rain by utilizing our positive-thought habit pattern.  And when devasting storms knock us down, we can recover by sticking to our faith.

No matter what storms come through our lives, we must never give up.  In Longfellow’s poem, he recognized this by saying, “Behind the clouds is the sun still shining”.  Remember that it is light shining through the rain that makes a rainbow.  And don’t forget – you and God make a majority.  You can do this!

Note to my readers:  Thank you so much for taking this journey with me.  It is definitely a work in progress!  I hope my blogs will continue to bless you and give you a breath of fresh air each week.  Please check back on Fridays for new installments and feel free to send me comments on the “Contact Me” page.  (I don’t know if the comments tab works – I’m still learning this computer stuff.)  

And please, if you like this blog, tell your friends.

We are all wonderfully unique with many marvelous qualities.  Yet, it seems that many of us share a common misconception that our most important quality is the way we look.  Because of that, we are overly critical of our appearance, and often dissatisfied with our looks.  This need not be!

Science says that beauty is linked to symmetry.  Instinctually, the more symmetrical, the more pleasing to the eye. However, even though we may have this built-in instinct, our thought processes are much more complex than that. Many factors are involved in our perception of beauty.  And that is what I want to talk about, particularly with regard to how we perceive ourselves. 

Our physical appearance basically boils down to genetics.  Go back as many generations as you want, and each parent of a parent of a parent lent some genetic material that resulted in you.  Now, I know that is overly simplistic, but think about it.  You didn’t choose your looks, an egg and sperm determined that for you and for your parents, and for their parents and so on.  Your nose that you might think is too big or your eyes you wish were a different color or that crooked smile were all handed down to you by generations of your family.  We are all products of our heritage in many ways, including our physical attributes.  When you look at yourself, do you see the beautiful reflection of the history of your family living their lives and making their choices?   Often our lineage offers us examples of fortitude and achievement, which we respect.   Why shouldn’t we be proud of their genes as well?  

But even if we accept and appreciate that we look the way we do because of our ancestors, we are still faced with our experiential perception of ourselves.  And that could be unkind to us.  Remember that boy in 4^th grade who called you ugly?  What about those girls in high school who excluded you or made fun of you?  Perhaps even a loved one said some callous words in jest or in anger.  The hurt from any of these kinds of experiences can get lodged in our minds and tear us down in own eyes.  Don’t let it!  Past is passed!  We can’t change it, but we can put it away.  Lock it up in the ‘trunk of useless thoughts’ and throw away the key.  We do not need to harbor thoughts that hurt us.  Replace them with positive thoughts.  It’s just as simple to choose a positive thought as it is to choose a negative thought in any category, even in this one.  It may take a little more work to hold on to the positive thoughts because we are so used to the negative ones, but putting forth the effort is well worth it.

In addition, society has dictated a standard for what is called beautiful. And that standard so completely permeates our culture, that it is difficult to baulk against it. We are bombarded with images that we are told we should look like.  And frequently, it can be detrimental to us because we know we will never look like that.  But for some reason, we still continue to compare ourselves to that standard.  Whose standard is it anyway?  And why do we torment ourselves striving to attain some enigmatic standard?  

Society’s benchmark is set by some very symmetrical movie stars and models.  That’s ok.  We enjoy looking at them.  But the problem is that we somehow (intentionally or unintentionally) are made to feel inferior or second rate because we don’t match their symmetrical criteria.  Whether we do it to ourselves or the pressure of society does it to us, it is a trick that we have succumb to.  We cannot control society’s standard, but we can control our perceptions. 

Why not make your own standard?  Strip away the worldly attitudes and look at yourself in the mirror.  Do you see someone who is the product of the love that your ancestors had to have children who would have children and so forth until you?  If so, see their courage in your eyes.  Wear that nose as a badge of honor.  Do you see a good person?  A kind person?  A generous person?  A loving person?  Those are some of the qualities that make one truly beautiful, not some other person’s opinion nor a standard that society has adopted.

When we are beautiful inside, it will show through to the outside.  And it will be true beauty, long lasting beauty, and the kind of beauty that comes from a deeply meaningful reality.  Our standard should be one of love and faith.  And since the Bible says, “the greatest of these is love”, why not focus on that one?  Allowing that reality to be our standard will open our eyes to what is genuinely beautiful, not only in ourselves but also in others. 

To be clear, I’m not saying that we don’t need to take care of ourselves.  Like any other possession of value, we should take care of our physical bodies.  Health and hygiene are vitally important.  And there is nothing wrong with putting our best foot forward.  A flattering hairstyle, well-fitting clothes and maybe some make-up can not only show us in our best light, but also help us feel good about our appearance. 

My mom always used to say, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.  As a young girl, I interpreted that in light of people looking at me and I desperately hoped it was true.  When I became a mother, I interpreted it in light of me looking at my children (and then at my grandchildren) and I knew that it was true.  Now, I endeavor to be a person who is beautiful on the inside and allow that beauty to be what I behold in myself.  I can’t say whether that has changed anyone else’s perception of me, but it has changed mine.

Behold your own beauty – inside and out; and let it shine for all to see! 

I am average and that’s ok.  Most of us are, and it’s not a bad thing.  There will always be someone you see as better looking than you, more talented, or smarter.  There will always be someone richer, or more successful.  And the converse is also true.  There will always be people who look at you as being better looking or more talented, or smarter than they are.  There will always be people needier or struggling harder than you.  So why not embrace average?  Why not focus on your own successes, your own talents, your own accomplishments?  Don’t drag yourself down by measuring yourself against someone else’s success or wealth.  And don’t become arrogant by comparing yourself to someone less fortunate.  Recognize yourself for who you are with all your pluses and minuses and work hard to make the world a little bit better place because you’re in it.

Average does not mean, ‘not good enough’ and we must never allow that phrase to define us.  Average simply means that there are some people who can do things better than we can, and there are some people who don’t do things as well as we do.  It means that there are people who have had opportunities that we have not, and there are people who haven’t had the breaks that we’ve received. 

Average also implies balance. We live our lives between the extremes.  We are not the richest people in the world nor are we in the deepest poverty, (and it is likely that we will never be either). Our lives are simple and complicated, easy and hard, upbeat and downtrodden, happy and sad; but we do our best to manage the highs and the lows.  We recognize that both will happen and we pick ourselves up at the low times and appreciate the high times with thankfulness.  We strive for even keel rather than roller coaster.

Average means that we don’t expend all of our time and energy chasing after super-stardom, or truckloads of money. We’re not consumed with thoughts of power or wealth.   We find satisfaction in the love of our families, the closeness of our friendships and the successes of our day to day accomplishments. 

Average does not mean that we settle for mediocre or that we are lazy.  Our days are filled with challenges that we don’t shy away from.  We have responsibilities and obligations that we conscientiously seek to satisfy.  We may have people who depend on us or jobs that count on our contributions, and we attend to those charges with dedication and commitment. 

And finally, average does not mean that we are not special.  We ALL are very special in many ways!  We all have something to offer, something that can make the world a better place, and we understand that true change happens one person at a time. By touching even one life, we have made a difference.  We all are as unique as snowflakes with a multiplicity of talents and that’s what we bring to the table.  We are special because of who we are, and what we give.  We are special because we are fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving God.

So the next time you look in the mirror and see an average person, rejoice.  For you are seeing someone who can change the world one person at a time by simply sharing your love.  Average blends our strength and our patience together so that we can face our challenges and succeed. 

Average folks are the backbone of our country.  You are in good company.

Be the best average person you can be!