Have You Got Away With Doing Something Illegal?

I had a lot of fun interacting with the people who responded to my recent post on Facebook.  "I don't know if any of you have been bold enough to do what I just did. Just in case there would be knock on the door from the police, I told my husband what I was about to do. I thought about doing this for a long time and today I took the plunge. Today (please don't think less of me for doing this) I cut off all the manufacturer's tags on my throw pillows and rugs. I ignored the label warnings that it was against the law. There! That feels so much better to have that off my chest!"

Many responded that they would be visiting me in prison and others said they would bring me a 'special' cake.  Many said that they had also done the same but were never caught. 

Couldn't resist sharing this one:

What Do You Think About the Most - Your Future or Your Past

A new year is usually the time we reflect on our past.  It is quite normal to wonder what would have been different if you had or not done something.  If the past year was traumatic, we might wonder what would have happened if we had made a different decision.

This is a blogging challenge called Secret Subject Swap and I was asked to answer this question posted by Minette at Southern Belle Charm:  If you could go back 20 years for one hour and change the rest of your life, what would you change and why?

How to Push Through a Painful Experience

When we go through any type of trauma in our lives, it affects us. How it affects us can be either a negative or positive experience. Hopefully, we can learn from the experience and apply what we learned if we ever go through a similar one again. But, that is often easier said than done, isn't it?

Sometimes we do not realize we have "been here before" until it's over. Pain works that way.  Pain is just that - PAIN.  When we are in the middle of it, it feels like a new experience.  Yet, it rarely is.

There are many types of pain that we experience in life.  There are times when we are blindsided and experience pain on a level we had not realized we were capable of handling.  When we look back at those experiences we often wonder how we made it through -- but we did.  And we are stronger for it.
Pain takes on many forms in your life.  Rejection, loss, physical or emotional trauma, abuse, divorce, the list goes on.

What is Your Secret to Life?

Everyone wants to live longer and we spend a lot of money trying to find the secrets to living a longer life. We buy potions, pills, creams and exercise equipment - all in an effort to maintain or regain our youth. We spend a great deal of our hard earned money to look younger. Some of it works, but most of it does not.

I have six living uncles and aunts and the YOUNGEST is 90 years old. I have always maintained that the harder you work, the younger you feel. Even though TODAY is my (you can guess the number :) birthday, I  work harder than I did 25 years ago.  I love to be busy which helps me to think younger, act younger and look younger, Yes, longevity runs in my family, but more importantly there are some underlying facts that we put into practice.

What you feed will grow

AND.....

What you starve will die

Do You Think it's True? Is Attitude Everything?

Since watching "Captive:  A Journey of Hope and Survival" with ABC's Robin Roberts, it confirmed what I believe to be a key factor to rising above insurmountable trauma.

Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus were kidnapped and held captive for ten years by Ariel Castro, the father of Amanda and Gina's friend. Amanda was taken the day before her 17th birthday and is now 29 years old.  They were tortured, chained, and starved.  A bucket was their toilet and they were allowed one shower a week - with their abductor.

The house where they were held captive for 10 years

From the first day of Amanda's kidnapping, she kept a diary. Over the years she used every bit of paper she acquired to make her journal entries; i.e. take-out food bags.  The journal helped keep her sane and was priceless when writing her memoir.

If You Can Forget Your Struggles For A Moment, Why Not 2 or 3?

It didn't matter what kind of day I was having, looking outside made all my worries disappear for a moment.   Outside my window the Magnolias had opened over night and the magenta leaves reached for the morning's sunlight.  If only I could do that.  But wait, I could and did.  If I could forget my struggles for a moment, why not for two or three moments? Why couldn't I table my troubles?

I stepped outside and realized the signs of Spring were everywhere - from the small rhubarb plant starting in my garden to the choir of birds singing their morning song.

Everything was flourishing -- why couldn't I?

Could I turn my back on my catastrophic life and exchange it for a happy one?  Could it possibly be that easy?  

That day, I made the decision that changed my life forever. I would make a daily, hourly, moment by moment effort to see the positive in everything.  Bad things can happen to good people but they do not have to control my life; my thoughts.

When I looked outside and saw the flowers, I had my story idea for this short post which was a Use Your Words challenge.  Each month those participating in the challenge are given a series of words given to them from another blogger to use in a story. Each month I try to turn those words into a true story and this month I didn't have a clue.  

I have had a lot of trauma in my life but so have a lot of other people.  I can choose to dwell on those negatives or..... learn from them and draw strength and wisdom.  I have chosen the latter. 

My words were magenta, flourish, rhubarb, catastrophic and happy. They were submitted by Juicebox Confession.  

I hope you take a few minutes to check out the other bloggers in this challenge - read their stories, comment on their posts and let me know if you find the words I gave another blogger before I can figure it out - as we never know until they go live.

Baking In A Tornado
Spatulas on Parade
The Bergham's Life Chronicles
The Momisodes
Southern Belle Charm
Confessions of a Part-time Working Mom
Someone Else's Genius
Stacy Sews and Schools
Sparkly Poetic Weirdo
Searching for Sanity
Climaxed
Eileen's Perpetually Busy