I have a tendency to be very hard on myself. I had to learn to stop being my cruelest critic and become a friend. To do this, I started thinking of how I would talk to, support and encourage a friend and applied it to myself. I would never tell a friend, “well, you’re sure an idiot. No wonder no one likes you.” I don’t … Continue reading Making Friends With Me
Of all the epitaphs we throw around “lazy” is probably the one we see as inexcusable. Which is funny because we all have a tendency to be lazy. We were made to need rest. And sometimes what we call lazy is genuinely struggling to do something we’re not good at and find really unpleasant. It’s a normal part of life. And feeling bad about a … Continue reading Laziness
-Quote from The Upside Down World – A Book of Wisdom in Process. Copyright R. Trotter 2011 Continue reading There’s always a reason
It’s all well and fine to do right for the sake of right and to give because you can. But so often, there’s no reward. It’s not just a lack of appreciation, it’s as if no one even sees that you are there or what all this giving or doing right is costing you. That’s when it can be helpful to let God be your … Continue reading God Sees You
Michaela is my oldest daughter. After having 2 boys, I really wanted a daughter and somehow, I wound of with 3 of them (yes I do know how it works!) but Michaela started it all. And although this might sound like a strange thing to say about a not-quite-7-year-old, I admire Michaela a lot. She really is the most naturally positive, determined person I know. … Continue reading What Michaela is Teaching Me
Adam Saveage of Mythbusters famously likes to say, “I reject your reality and substitute my own!” Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work so well in real life. While it is true that there are many ways of looking at life, there are 3 basic facts of life which one must be reconciled to at some point: 1. Life is hard. 2. Life is not fair. 3. … Continue reading 3 Immutable Laws of Life
I started to do these “Best of the Week” posts a few weeks ago and it seems that my week is consistently 8 days long. Which I have no doubt that people who have to deal with me would agree is pretty much how I work! But hey – it’s my blog and it’s free! (Although you can make a donati0n to support the site … Continue reading Apparently My Week Has 8 Days In It
This past summer, I was showing a man and his son how to look for monarch butterfly caterpillars so the boy could bring one home to raise. I walked right up to the long grass to point out what milkweed looks like (the only food monarch caterpillars eat is the leaves of plants in the milkweed family). The dad came to a stop about 5 … Continue reading Looking in the tall grass
Since I am a contrarian at heart and everyone and their brother is doing the “Let’s talk about what we’re thankful for” bit, I’m going to offer up something completely different. Because as important as gratitude is, I also know that on Thanksgiving there are an awful lot of people for whom the answer to “what are you most grateful for?” is “that I don’t … Continue reading Thanksgiving Family Survival Guide
Once upon a time, a dastardly villian took a girl out to sea and left her there in the water, in the dark. She knew she was in a struggle for her life. Although it was night and she could see nothing, she couldn’t tolerate just waiting. So she took off swimming in the direction she thought land was. She swam though the night until … Continue reading On Treading Water
The Upside Down World 