Recently, I read the book “Gathering Blue” by Lois Lowry. It is part of a trilogy which I really got into. ”Take pride in your pain because you will be stronger than those who don’t” was one quote from the book that really stuck with me.
Pain is usually thought of as a bad thing; an experience that people don’t want to have to go through. However, the quote from Gathering Blue tells us that pain can help in many ways. Pain hurts us now but will make us more prepared for the future. Just having the pain is not enough. You actually need to get in the mindset of taking pride in your pain. It may sound a little weird. I know it did to me at first but pride is what helps you learn from your pain and gives you the ability to move on.
People who don’t recognize this put themselves on a pedestal because they think they are better than everyone else. It is similar to accepting defeat or quitting an argument. Don’t pride yourself in winning but be proud of being a big enough person to accept defeat. You can’t win all of the time and no one is right all of the time either.
Whether it’s a business situation or a personal one, take pride in your pain, struggles, challenges, and losses. It’s what helps us deal with the tough things in life and teaches us that we are usually stronger than we give ourselves credit for.
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These tips are good for personal as well as business. Aside from the photos which are pretty funny, the advice is basic common sense. Share this post with friends, family, and business contacts. More common sense once in awhile doesn’t hurt anyone. Here’s to a great 2010!
1. Stay out of trouble.
2. Aim for greater heights.
3. Stay focused on your job.
4. Exercise to maintain good health.
5. Practice team work.
6. Rely on your trusted partner to watch your back. Take your time trusting others.
7. Save for rainy days.
8. Rest and relax.
9. Always take time to smile.
AND . . .
10. Realize that nothing is impossible.
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By now, I bet many people have already broken their New Year’s resolutions, especially the ones you hear the most like losing weight, quiting smoking, or exercising more.
Kids usually don’t make resolutions. My guess is that most don’t think that far ahead or some probably think they don’t need to change anything. But when you think about it, why make resolutions anyway?
Does a new year really make a difference in the way people think? If a person was not exercising last year, will they really do what it takes to change things this year?
I think when people declare their resolutions, it’s actually more of a negative than a positive. For the majority that break them, those people probably feel pretty bad like they failed.
The better way might be to just keep working at what you want to change without announcing this big resolution. If one day you mess up, give yourself a kick in the pants and just try harder the next day but keep moving forward.
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My 12 Days of Christmas Trivia has come to an end. I’ve had a lot of fun finding little-known facts and trivia about Christmas. I hope you had fun reading them too.
This last bit of Christmas trivia is good to remember all year long since it is health-related. It is estimated that 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers. I read this on several websites but couldn’t find the actual source to verify it but if you’re like most families, there was lots of food set out during the holidays. Everyone seems to take more time eating holiday meals than regular meals any other day of the year so food sits on the table or counter a lot longer. Then there are the people who like to keep eating all day long so some munchies sit out for hours. But how long should food be left out before it starts to go bad?
This ABC News/Health story explains how to tell if food has gone bad and how long you should keep leftovers. It’s good to remember all year long, not just during the holidays.
My parents have a saying, “When in doubt, throw it out” because it’s better to be safe than sorry. And who would want to get sick between Christmas and New Years just because you ate some bad leftovers or food that set out too long? Even your favorite leftover turkey or stuffing wouldn’t be worth it. And if you’re not sure if it’s spoiled or not, please don’t feed it to your pets either.
Happy New Year to everyone! Eat healthy!
If you missed any of my 12 Days of Christmas Trivia, just scroll down to read the rest.
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My aunt sent us this joke before Christmas.
The big question: Are Santa’s reindeer male or female? As the joke goes, apparently all of his reindeer must be female because only women would be able to drag a fat man in a red suit all around the world in just one night and not get lost. Okay, even my dad laughed at that one.
But maybe the joke isn’t that far off – well, at least as far as whether they are male or female. According to the University of Alaska, older male reindeer start shedding their antlers in December but female reindeer keep theirs until they give birth in the spring. So it’s likely that if Santa’s reindeer were males, they would have lost their antlers by Christmas. But since most pictures are drawn with antlers on all of the reindeer, even though they have male names, it’s more likely that Santa’s reindeer were probably female reindeer.
Now, the bigger question. Does it really matter? No, but it makes for a good joke.
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