The Ducks - Did They Forget?Written by Monique Rider
In Michigan we were having an unusual warm spell. For about six weeks, since November, it had been in 40's, 50's, and even 60,s - with rain, not snow. That was quite unusual and we were all expecting to get blasted with a blizzard any day. But until then, people were still mowing their grass, doing yard work, and taking walks without coats on – it was great. Especially for me, because I really detest Michigan winters. I love nature and outdoors, but in winter I become a recluse. I also become very afraid to drive on ice, slush, and snow packed roads. So, I was totally thankful for our weather situation. Especially knowing that we would be in Utah in two weeks and they already had over a foot of snow in mountains. We live across street from beautiful Lake Bella Vista. From our second floor master bedroom we have a gorgeous view and can see all way to other side of lake. It was one of those 50 degree days and water was so blue you'd think it was still summer. The sun was out and shinning down on water, making it sparkle. A slight breeze was causing small ripples in lake and it really felt peaceful. However, entire sight was really weird for December! It kind of seemed like a movie where someone spliced in wrong scene. My mind was telling me it was December but my eyes were seeing something from, maybe, July! I stood there (in a bit of confusion) watching scene, trying to get either my mind to agree with my eyes; or my eyes to agree with my mind. Then I noticed a whole flock of ducks swimming so pleasantly, as ducks do. Not looking at all in a hurry, just relaxing and swimming rather close to shore. Meandering in circles, floating around like there's nothing better to do. Just soaking in sun, breeze, warmth..........
| | Underextend YourselfWritten by Jean R. Charles
It is current trend in this world of opportunity for people to over-fill their schedules, over-spend their income, over-promise to their family and friends. All of this leads to overwhelm, overload, and being in over their heads and over-extended. It becomes obvious how prevalent these situations are by noticing how many over words we have in our vocabulary to describe them.My bold proposal is that instead of all overage, we practice under-extending ourselves. A graphic analogy to demonstrate this is to picture a rubber band around a deck of cards. If band is stretched to its ultimate, adding even one more card will cause it to break and all of cards will scatter. If band still has some slack and can stretch further, more cards may be added and deck will stay intact. If our lives are like that deck of cards and our rubber band has stretching room, we will be free to add more to our lives without losing our integrity. For example, if you have a reserve of money and a great investment opportunity presents itself, you can take advantage of it. If you keep reserves of time and energy, when unexpected events occur you can handle them without undue stress. If you under-promise to family and friends and then deliver in excess of promise, you are a hero. There are several ways to keep some slack in rubber band of your life. You can clean out some of “cards” in your deck that no longer serve you well. Cleaning out clutter in your physical environment is an obvious example. You can free up space by getting rid of objects that are no longer useful to you. You will then have space to add valuable objects when they present themselves. Also, completing uncluttering process will give you a burst of energy to add to your reserves.
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