Do Your Excuses Keep You From Being What You Were Meant To Be?

 

 Nothing can stop you - no matter how old you are

How many times have you awakened in the morning and wondered what happened with the past three, four, five, six, or seven decades?  Or have you looked into the mirror and felt it was unfair that life passed you by without giving you a chance to pursue the career you always wanted?  

As much as some people look forward to retirement, what if you don’t have the income to maintain the lifestyle you have grown accustomed to?  Then there is the backdoor threat of Alzheimer’s.  You may wonder how you are going to stay alert and focused when your days may only be filled with volunteer community work or gardening. 

I would rather work than play. If I don’t have any pressing jobs to accomplish, I create one. The few times I have focused on leisure instead of work, I got bored quickly. As the years were fleeting by and I remained in great health, I could not imagine living without an ongoing purpose or fulfilling a dream during my ‘golden’ years.

Choosing to be a victor instead of a victim

My life was not an easy one. I endured more problems than most people would be able to handle.  The more negatives life threw at me, the stronger and hopefully, wiser, I became.  But what good is that wisdom if I couldn’t put it to valuable use?

When my daughter was a teenager she started a crusade to encourage me to write my memoir. It started as a campaign and for ten years, she made it a threat. She had heard all my excuses and was not going to tolerate them any longer.  “Write your story or else!” Finally, I began the journey of writing my story.

I never would have believed it could be so difficult but it was also a driving force as the more I wrote the more I realized I had a message the world needed to hear.  It was a message of never, ever giving up – no matter what happens.

Stepping WAY out of a comfort zone

My husband and I were in our sixties when we opened three high-end jewelry stores and shortly after he was in a serious car accident which left him disabled.  We found ourselves thrown into a situation that did not allow us to quit our jobs, or sell our businesses.  We had to keep going.  We weren’t given a choice.

When I was in my twenties, I became a certified health coach after I was told I only had two years to live due to cancer.  I refused the normal invasive treatments and opted to cure myself with nutrition and food supplements.  After restoration, I promised to help people with their health issues until the day I die. 

Where was I going to find the time to write a book? I had no idea my life was about to start over with a new career.  I wrote late in the evenings; and after ten years triggered by painful memories, I was ready to launch my book.

I started a podcast to interview ordinary people who overcame extraordinary circumstances and became successful as a result.  In the first hour after posting my idea on the internet, I had over 100 requests to be on my show.  What show?  I swiftly trained myself how to podcast, edit, and promote my show. That was eight years ago and Never Ever Give Up Hope is now heard in over 140 countries with unending weekly requests to be part of the show.

I wanted to fulfill the dream of being an author, an international speaker, and a talk show host. At 67 these seemed like pipe dreams but I am now living them and looking forward to the next challenge.  As owner and operator of two jewelry stores, my health coaching business, traveling as a speaker, hosting and managing my talk show, writing for numerous magazines and anthologies, having my own monthly column in two magazines, being the bookkeeper for all the businesses, taking care of a disabled husband and rescuing dogs (over 30 to date)..... I launched a new YouTube channel and website two months ago that is growing faster than my greatest expectations.

Nothing is stopping you

We all have the ability and the right to choose what we do with our retirement years. My choice was to start over – doing what I wanted to do and helping many others be encouraged and challenged to NEVER EVER GIVE UP HOPE.

Never limit yourself by making excuses why you cannot do what you always wanted to do.  Find a way.  Set your goals.  You will never regret it.  It will sustain your youth.  You have much to offer – start giving it away.

Gang raped and left for dead
Cancer diagnosis
Loss of a child
Husband falsely imprisoned
BUT...Carol chose to be a victor instead of a victim

A Sense of Accomplishment Can Be Worth More than ME Time

Preparing for this month's Fly On the Wall post was painful when I realized I need to get out more! Each day I am consumed with either writing blog posts, creating YouTube videos, writing health-related articles, analyzing health questionnaires for clients, writing newsletters, interviewing one guest a week for my podcast, bookkeeping for our brick and mortar businesses, or teaching on the internet. 

If you haven't checked out my podcast, please do!  (Now in my 8th year!) You will find incredible true stories of people who went from victim to victor and from hopelessness to helping others find hope. Each guest has become successful and many have made huge positive impacts to society. 

It leaves little time for anything else, as my days start at 5:30 AM and run until dinner time. Don't worry, I cook everything from scratch and manage an organized home. 

But who wants to hear about that in a blog post? However, I did travel to my daughter's home to house/dog sit for one week. That was heaven to me. I took my computer with me, set up an office in her dining room, and worked almost 'round the clock. I decided to fast that week so there was no need to cook. I loved it and accomplished more than I would in two weeks if I was at home.

The grands were in Hawaii that week and the pics speak for themselves:

Curling hair at 5 yrs old?

How blessed I am to see the love these two have for each other

Please have a buzz around and see what the other bloggers in this group posted this month:

Baking In A Tornado

Menopausal Mother

Wandering Web Designer

Sometimes the Only Way to say Thank You is to Pay it Forward

One of the only justifiable reasons for eating dinner out is my  laziness if I do not feel like cooking. Rarely is it a treat. The choice of restaurants in our community is limited and usually a grave disappointment.

So if I succumb to the lack of energy to cook at home, we venture out. We have several Asian restaurants in town but since Covid they only offer take-out. I miss the Sushi and fantastic entrees but when we want to eat 'out' that does not mean bringing it home.

But for most of the cuisine offered locally, we have been there and never want to go back. New restaurants get one shot to take my money and if they don't measure up - forget it. 

Hubby's birthday and Valentine's day are a day apart. As much as he loves my cooking, I wanted to take him out for a special evening. We heard one of the local restaurants had a new chef and the town was shouting his praises. We ventured out and hoped it might be as good as the feedback was shouting.

The appetizers shocked us and could have been the main course. Unfortunately, that is often the case. Then the entre disappoints and we choose never to go back.

The restaurant had limited seating (Covid) so we chose to sit at the bar. I glanced at the guy sitting two stools over. I glanced again and he caught my eye. 

"Hi, how ya doin?"

"Great - I couldn't help but notice you look like one of my favorite actors in a new series I am watching on Netflix."

"I get that a lot," he laughed. "Which series?" 

"Firefly Lane." He nodded. "Love the series but no, not me. But I am doing one that is on Netflix."

"AHA. So, I was right. What series are you in?"

"I can't possibly tell you that," and he muttered something under his breath that sounded like, "if I told you, I'd have to...." 

I laughed. It was weird.

We finished our dinner of steak and prawns with all the trimmings. It was one of the best meals we have had in this town. We didn't want to leave. But there was no room for dessert.

Then she said the strangest thing. "If you would like dessert, it is on me." WHY?

"Thank you, but we couldn't possibly eat another bite. Just give us the bill please."

"There is no bill. The guy sitting next to you paid."

"WHAT? WHY?"

"I don't know. He's a really nice guy and a regular."

I asked for his name but she said she couldn't give that to me. Understood.

My first thought was how to pay this forward and I told the waitress that we would be back to do just that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, Mom.....how would you like the kids during Spring break?"

"ARE YOU KIDDING!? I'm so excited I don't know how I will wait that long."

We have never had the grands on their own - without parents. What a great opportunity to spoil them. I have been making plans.

ON FERRY - TRAVELING TO GRAMMA'S

Our SIL runs a road construction business and Brie was on the job site after school with her daddy. He was explaining to four workers (including the foreman) how to do a particular job with the new piece of equipment. 

Brie was listening and it was obvious the message was not getting across to the workers.

"Here - watch," she said.

She proceeded to show the men. Remember Brie is four years old.

Thomas said the look on their faces was a priceless moment. He turned to the men and said, "You are all fired. She's four years old!"

A month later, she received a pony for her fifth birthday. Daddy told her she would have to learn how to feed and care for her new baby. This included helping him build the water trench. 

Without hesitation, she got a shovel and started digging. Gotta love the attitude.

 

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 4 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

 

 

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

 

Baking In A Tornado                 

Menopausal Mother     

             

Wandering Web Designer