Now Is The Best Time

"Never ever, ever leave a place of learning

without taking immediate action."

~ Jenny Flintoft, Director, AWHW.org

What? You mean right this minute? You mean I can't just add that great new idea to my pile until I find the time to tackle it?

According to Jenny, no you can't! Not if you want to change a habit or complete a project you've started. Not if you want to move forward in your business or actually get that book you have in your head out on paper. The more I think about it, the more I realize that far too often I've been a 'hearer' of a word and not a 'doer'. How often have I heard something new, been totally inspired, and then added the idea in my already bulging mental notebook, somehow thinking that just because I got 'goosebumps' from some amazing piece of information, it would automatically change my life. Maybe I thought it would happen by osmosis.

What really challenged me was when Jenny instructed her listeners to take one thing we learned that morning and immediately take action to implement it, to do it just as soon as we got off the phone.

I have to admit, it seemed too fast for me. But that's exactly what I needed. When will there be a better moment? A line from The King and I with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr says it best:

"Now is always best time."

* * *

Another tip from Jenny: "Go through your existing e-books and products. Highlight, scribble, stick notes on things which you can action immediately. Then go action them. Don't buy any more products until you do."

I'm ready to action that -- now is always best time!

Brenda

🖉

Simply Sunday: A Safe Place

Miss Kitty loves to go outside, but she's careful to keep an eye open for scary stuff. For she's a timid little thing, and although she's not as shy as she once was, I've noticed she still appears to be more at ease exploring the 'great outdoors' when she knows the door stays open.

She'll often come back from her garden snooping to sniff the door, as if to ensure that it's still open. When I ask if she wants to go inside, Oh no, we're just checking that there's still a safe place to run into should it be necessary. Then she wanders back out.

It got me thinking, sometimes God calls us to come out of our familiar spots into a place that isn't always comfortable for us. We may step out, one toe at a time. And, we tend to keep a watchful eye on the door, in case 'there be dragons out there'.

I think the Psalmist must have felt that way sometimes, because he sure journaled a lot about it. If you read through the Book of Psalms, it is full of reminders to himself that he knows there is a safe place for him to run into.

A snippet from the Psalmist's journal: The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run into him and are safe. Psalm 18:10

It might give us the courage to step out into the unknown if we remember that God always leaves the door open for us and we can run back to Him anytime we feel the heat of dragon fire.

May you find that safe place today. Wishing you peace!

Hugs,

Brenda

xox

Please Wear Pants!

morguefile.com

I just finished tsk-ing and giggling my way through an article Look Ma - no pants! in The Globe and Mail. Columnist Leah McLaren was wondering when it became okay to flash your underwear in public. Apparently there's a current trend in some places for people (men and women both) to go out in public, minus their trousers (and the women aren't wearing skirts either). Really...don't even try to imagine that one!

Which makes me glad for my 'old fogey' friends (sorry you guys)... so far, everyone we hang out with has always arrived fully clothed for the occasion.

It makes me wonder if this fad were to hang around for any length, restaurant owners would have to update their 'No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service' signs. Somehow it doesn't quite have the same rhythm if you add 'No Pants'. And then think about it, you've just sent invitations out for your daughter's wedding. Do you have to specify in the RSVP -- please wear trousers?

McLaren's closing comment make me laugh: "Take it from the fashion experts--pants are important. They cover our wobbly bits and separate us from the Muppets. Wear them early and wear them often and please, ladies, if you see me coming, put on a pair for me."

Well, that certainly added some colour to my otherwise low key day.

Here's to the usefulness of trousers!

Brenda

Simply Sunday... on Real Living

"The great thing, if one can, is stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day: what one calls one's 'real life' is a phantom of one's own imagination. This at least is what I see at moments of insight: but it's hard to remember it all the time." ~ C.S. Lewis, The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves

This quote makes me think of another well-known quote: Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

It's good to be reminded that every breath we breathe and every moment we live is our real life, even when that includes life gone awry or situations that feel intrusive. Maybe we'll be more able to go with the flow if we do.

Our life is here,our life is now ... in every shape and colour it arrives in. I want to remember that as I start my new week. You too?

Wishes for a great day,

Brenda

Blow On The Embers

I still feel a little startled when I see Brenda Ueland's name on her book If You Want To Write. Because with the switch of just two little letters, it could just as easily say Brenda Leyland, do you see?

It's still vividly clear in my mind when Carrie Wilkerson once asked her audience the pointed question, 'How many of you have a book in your head? And when they nodded or raised their hands, she sez, What's it doing in there? Get it out of your head and on paper; nobody can buy it or read it if it's still in your head!'

Which reminds me of something else she said. She says she must implement quickly or it doesn't get done. Oh boy, do I know that! That's exactly what happened with some of my book ideas, not to mention a gazillion other brilliant ideas.

Too often I allowed other assumed duties and responsibilities, not to mention menial chores, take priority. So often I felt unable to pursue the idea while it was 'hot'. Eventually the passion fizzled.

If I would have just pushed through when it was fresh and full of fire, I could well be looking at a finished book with my name at the bottom of the cover, just like Brenda Ueland. And maybe you'd be wanting to read it!
But wait, there's hope! Surely it's possible to fan dying dreams? Try this. Imagine for a moment that perfectly wonderful cruise or holiday you took once. Imagine yourself back in that idyllic time and place. Can you feel? Smell the air? Hear the sounds? Are happy emotions flooding you as you image it?

Couldn't we do the same thing with our dying dreams..... fan the flames by going back to those first few hours, days or weeks when we were dreaming, sleeping, eating about the possibilities?

Couldn't we let those memories flood back, filling our mind and re-igniting our emotions.

I can feel the excitement rising. Do you?