MandatoryPositive

The Pic that started it all! This time last year my daughter was trying on wedding dresses. Despite all of the restrictions and shifting plans, I wanted to make sure she got her "moment". I had been front and center shopping with her for jr. high formals, swirls, graduation dresses, homecoming ensembles and cotillion dresses. She always looked fabulous in the end.  I would like to say that each and every shopping experience was filled with fun and laughter and pure happiness, but that would be a LIE from the pit of hell.  I remember 8th grade when she wanted a basic sequins dress that everyone else had (insert eye roll). It was cheap looking and tacky and was not flattering and I said as much (ouch).  To add insult to injury my equally as vocal mother mirrored my sentiments and added some of her own. My daughters little feelings were HURT. My mom told her it was better to be mad now then she mad later when she wasn't cute. I'm pretty sure a tantrum was thrown, but if ...

There's a peace you get walking or running early in the morning. If you're lucky you get to hear the birds chirping and see the sun rising. The beams catch the reflection of the dew and create this mystical glow that you can only see at dawn. When I don't get up or let that time pass laying in the. bed with my eyes open, I feel like I've missed out on the big sale or one of those once in a lifetime opportunities. I guess every opportunity is once-in-a-life time if you think about it. Sure, the sun will rise again, but not in the exact same way. Tomorrows birds are different and whatever bad news you may become aware of  today will impact the way you view the world tomorrow.   There was a time when I woke up at 4:45AM to get ready to work out. I miss those days. I miss the feeling of doing so much before most people even started their day. I felt accomplished, proud, settled. I thought declaring I was going to go back to that would be enough. I thought the vision board, ...

Do you ever do the where’s George when you see it? Usually I just spend my dollar and keep it moving. Today,  It occurred to me that this project is important to someone somewhere and I can support it for free with minimal effort.   There are so many opportunities to support our friends, family by reading their blogs, watching their YouTube channels, leaving feedback, sharing their content, showing up the their events-yet most people choose not to. They claim they’ve been “meaning to,” and give hollow words of encouragement, but they don’t follow through with the support needed to make you a success. Oddly, your biggest support often comes from strangers.   In the land of the content creation, , numbers matter.  Your friends lie, your family members lie, but numbers-in this case  analytics, tell the God’s honest truth.  When your content gets 32 views, and your profile shows you have 1,000 social media “friends,” it doesn’t take a mathematician to show that...

Writing Prompt: What something that scares you that you did anyway?  I have often been told that you should do something that scares you every day to learn and grow. This morning I thought of my fear of heights, and decided today’s walking adventure would take me across the bridge from Illinois to Iowa. It’s not the first time I’ve crossed it. I used to do the road races where they blocked off the bridge and we walked across the actual street. This time, I was going to be on the narrow path designated for walking with nothing separating me from a plunge into the muddy Mississippi, but a thin railing.   In the mile and a half it takes to get from my house to the bridge, I almost chickened out. What was the point of terrifying myself?  Hasn’t life been scary enough? As I stepped towards the foot of the bridge,  I took a deep breath and focused on the path ahead. I  just kept walking. I almost forgot my promise to take photos, so I paused with a death grip wrapped ...

                  I always loved tulips. My grandma used to have pink tulips that came up every year. I said I would have them someday if I ever bought a house.  I’m no green thumb, but I love that once you plant tulips, they come back every year.   When we bought this house,  it was supposed to be a part of the less than five-year plan. We were going to have fun renovating-painting, laying new flooring. I like adventure and wanted to learn new things.  I spent hours looking through magazines and websites trying to figure out the things I wanted. A house full of color and interesting eclectic pieces.  I imagined we’d travel and I’d find little trinkets along the way.  That life didn’t get to happen. It turns out, somehow I married someone who didn’t share my vision-or really care to even know what it was. I’d come home and randomly something would be painted with colors I never chose. Flooring was half-assed put ...

Years ago I was a broke college student and single mother to an infant. At times life seemed overwhelming, impossible and hopeless. I felt like I would never graduate, and I was stuck in an endless cycle of working, writing papers, being a mom, taking care of home, and trying to not to get something shut off. I realized every time someone asked how things were going, I would have to fight hard not to cry, complain or pass out in exhaustion before I squeaked out “fine”   One day when my daughter was around three she saw me crying. She put her head in my lap and looked sad herself.  I realized if I continued to lean into that feeling of despair, she would grow up without a single moment of joy in her childhood. I made a vow at that moment to try to focus on any possible silver lining to the dark clouds that seemed to be my life-the “Mandatory Positive.”  As she became older, I challenged my daughter to identify the mandatory positive in bad situations. We continue to do so ...