November 2021 Positivity Journal
After several months of health issues that included a couple of endoscopies, surgeries, and a several GI diagnoses (I still have some upcoming testing to look forward to, Oh Boy, Fun times! 🤓) and a couple of new diets (gastritis and low fodmap, which I'm doing at this very moment), I decided it was time to quit being lazy and finish out my positivity journal for 2021. I have things to look forward to, such as a #swapandglue video (coming out soon) and doing an en masse journal (idea by Shannon Green). I've already have begun to collect images for that! And perhaps doing some more Dolly pictures such as this one:
Friends bring such beauty to our lives. I'm grateful for each and every friend that has stuck with me these last three years.
"You know, just own who you are. Love yourself." (~ KeKe Palmer, diagnosed with PCOS)
"Isn't it strange how God directs our paths and always beyond our wildest dreams? It surely keeps us dancing with glee, no matter the medium." (~Victoria MacKenzie-Childs)
"Love your audience and they will love you right back." (George D. Hay said to Minnie Pearl the day she was to perform on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville for the first time).
Live each day with a grateful heart.
SCRIPTURES:
Genesis 1:1 = In the beginning
Psalm 77:12 = I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.
Psalm 92:12-15 = (Carolyn's favorite verse; my friend inspired my Joy video's) The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall bring forth fruit in old age, they shall be fat and flourishing. To shew that the Lord is upright; He is my rock; and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Psalm 119:15 = I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
Psalm 119:23 = Though rulers sit together and slander me, your servant will meditate on your decrees.
Psalm 119:27 = Cause me to understand the way of your precepts, that I may meditate on your wonderful deeds.
2 Corinthians 12:9,10 = But he said to me "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness..." For when I am weak, then I am strong.
INSPIRATION:
Muniba Mazari Aspire to Inspire - on being grateful.
GOOD MEMORIES:
My Kansas grandmother showed us a game using a thimble called "Hide the Thimble." Someone is it and everyone else goes out of the room. "It" hides the thimble in plain sight somewhere in the room. The thimble cannot be hidden behind or under something, but in plain sight from any corner of the room. When "It" calls okay, then everyone comes back into the room and stands in the middle of the room. The first person who spies the thimble, is the next "It" who hides the thimble. If "It" hides the thimble so well that nobody can find it, then "It" can give clues like, "You are warm" meaning they are close to the thimble and if they are next to it and still don't see it, then they are hot. If they move away, then they are getting cold. It's a lot of fun and I taught the game to my in-law's family.
My Oklahoma grandmother had a button box with her sewing supplies. She cut off the buttons from grandpa's old shirts and kept the extras from sewing projects. I loved sifting through them and looking at all the interesting and pretty vintage and modern button treasures she had in that box. I keep my buttons in jars and they are divided into two jars, one for white buttons and one for colored. I have purchased many of my buttons from thrift stores, garage sales and Walmart. Comes in handy as the package roller conveyor in the warehouse where hubby works eats them like candy.
My Kansas grandmother complained that she didn't catch the doorbell when people made deliveries, so the next time we went to visit her, dad brought his tools with him and wired in a security alarm bell to her doorbell inside the house. I remember the first time he rang the doorbell to test it, everyone in the house about jumped out of their skins. She didn't have a bit of trouble hearing the doorbell thereafter! LOL! Oh, and she lived in a farmhouse, so the alarm didn't bother any neighbors.
When I got older, at times I got to stay with my Oklahoma grandmother by myself. Once I caught a train one summer and rode all night, sleepy, but afraid I'd miss my stop, to visit grandma and grandpa. They picked me up at the train station in Dodge City, KS and I got to stay with them for a week and then they took me back to Dodge City to get on the train to go home. I so enjoyed my visit with my grandparents. It was scary and fun all at the same time. Another time, I was invited to stay with my grandparents after my mother, my siblings, and I had already been there for a month summer visit. I can't remember why, but my mother had to go back home, so she left some money with my grandmother to take me to town to pick out some shoes for school. I was pretty excited about that as I had been wanting a pair of saddle oxfords for some time. So, Friday came, my grandparent's usual shopping day (I have described it in some detail above) and after grandma got gussied up (the hairdresser sure was taking her sweet time getting grandma's hair done) and we had lunch, we set out for the shoe store. As I wandered around the store, grandma made her selection for me. When she called me over to try on the shoes, I looked in disgust at the shoes she had picked out. They were OLD LADY SHOES! Grandma had in hand, two black, lace-up oxfords. I said, "Grandma, I wanted saddle oxfords!" Grandma said, "Your mother said to get you oxfords and that is what you are going to get!" I was sure there was a mix-up somewhere and I showed grandma the shoes I wanted. She shook her head and insisted the shoes she held was what my mother told her to get. I went home, upset with my old lady shoes. Mom couldn't afford to replace them, and I had to endure the laughs of the kids at school at the sight of those ugly shoes. Imagine today, I'm still wearing black old lady shoes, except instead of laces, I have 3 Velcro straps across the shoes, and one shoe is built up as the doctors discovered one of my legs was short! Perhaps they can fix that when I get new knee joints.
POETRY:
OLD FRIENDS By Edgar Guest (one of my favorite poets)
I do not say new friends are not considerate and true,
Or that their smiles ain't genuine, but still I'm telling you
That when a feller's heart is crushed and achin' with the pain,
And teardrops come a-splashin' down his cheeks like summer rain,
Because his grief an' loneliness are more than he can bear,
Somehow, it's only old friends, then, that really seem to care.
The friends who've stuck through thick an' thin, who've known you, good an' bad
Your faults an' virtues, an' have seen the struggles you have had,
When they come to you gentle-like an' take your hand an' say.
'Cheer up! we're with you still,' it counts, for that's the old friends' way.
The new friends may be fond of you for what you are today.
They've only known you rich, perhaps, an' only seen you gay.
You can't tell what's attracted them; your station may appeal.
Perhaps they smile on you because you're doing something real.
But old friends who have seen you fail, an' also seen you win,
Who've loved you either up or down, stuck to you, thick or thin,
Who knew you as a budding youth, an' watched you start to climb,
Through weal an' woe, still friends of yours an' constant all the time,
When trouble comes an' things go wrong, I don't care what you say,
They are the friends you'll turn to, for you want the old friends' way.
The new friends may be richer, an' more stylish, too, but when
Your heart is achin' an' you think your sun won't shine again,
It's not the riches of new friends you want, it's not their style,
It's not the airs of grandeur then, it's just the old friend's smile,
The old hand that has helped before, stretched out once more to you,
The old words ringin' in your ears, so sweet an', Oh, so true!
The tenderness of folks who know just what your sorrow means,
These are the things on which, somehow, your spirit always leans.
When grief is poundin' at your breast -- the new friends disappear
An' to the old ones tried an' true, you turn for aid an' cheer.
Thank you, friends!
