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Photo Challenge: WEATHERED
“Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.” William Butler Yeats
Photo Challenge: WEATHERED by the Elements
It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it. Amelia Barr
The whole climate is changing: the winds, the ocean currents, the storm patterns, snow packs, snowmelt, flooding, droughts. Temperature is just a bit of it. John Holdren
For this week’s challenge on – Weathered – I chose to go with the impact of the elements on my immediate environment. The snowstorm, last Thursday, left the landscape covered in mounds of white snow and blocks of frozen ice in some parts. As temperatures dipped well below zer0, the Hudson River froze over and created jagged shards of frozen river water. In parts of the Hudson River, where the tidal current moved inland as temperatures plummeted, a platform of frozen ice separated and divided the river into 3 segments; each segment displayed some degree of freeze.
The segment closest to the river’s edge and land mass was a frozen, shiny table with striations of waves frozen in place. Next, came the jagged shards of frozen waves and tidal current, seemingly angry, as they fought their way through the river in a futile battle against the Ice and Snow Queens. Last was the center of the river that still flowed with chunks of floating ice here and there; its fluidity maintained by virtue of being surrounded, and thus protected, by the two outer parts that absorbed the cold and extreme conditions. A tug boat or two helped carve a pathway through the center of the river, slowly and cautiously… Frozen water is, after all, like glass and can even take on the sharpness of a diamond.
“I have weathered many different storms and I know who I am and my friends know who I really am.” Delta Goodrem
Photo Challenge: WEATHERED
Photo Challenge: WEATHERED by the Elements
A few of us who chose to brave the cold did our morning exercise rounds, the day after the snowstorm, walking around the Hudson River Park. It was minus 10 and, when I stopped to capture some photos, I had to move quickly to get my gloves back on. My fingertips burned and the pain lingered longer than I would have cared to admit. Again, and again, I was drawn to the massive sheets of frozen snow and ice on my beloved Hudson River and I took a few more shots. Frostbite beckoned me to dare keep those gloves off longer than a few nanoseconds … I rejected the bait. The geese that usually cruise the river were smart. They all took to land and I included them in my shots. After my walk, I felt as weathered as the river… stiff, a bit frozen and needing to thaw my toes.
A day later, I drove into the city and saw the sculpture I featured the week before, One Holding Small One by Joy Brown, now dressed in a snow cap and cape. The snow settled in strategic spots as if Mother Nature was reminding us to nurture our earth and one another. I could feel the protectiveness. I thought she and her baby looked weathered in the cutest way.
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Motivation Mondays: Stumbling Blocks
“Are you going to let the obstacles in your life be stumbling blocks or stepping stones? Choose the positive. You are the master of your attitude.” Bruce Lee
Motivation Mondays: Overcoming Stumbling Blocks
Ultimately, success is not measured by first-place prizes. It’s measured by the road you have traveled: how you have dealt with the challenge and the stumbling blocks you’ve encountered along the way. Nicole Haislett
There’s so much happenstance, so many accidents – stumbling into something and finding it interesting and living with it over time and building on it. It’s okay to work from doubt. You need to be willing to not know. Ellen Gallagher
What are YOUR Stumbling Blocks? What is your most persistent Stumbling Block? We all have them or have experienced them at different points in our lives. They are barriers we either come up against, create in our minds, or allow others to pass on to us, and they stop us from moving forward. The most ubiquitous blocks we have tend to stem from a number of emotional upsets:
REGRET over actions we took that derailed our plans, leaving us stuck.
PEOPLE we have in our lives who have a frozen image of who/what we are, and these folks could include well-meaning folks close to us and toxic people we need to lose.
CONFUSION that mars our ability to make clear choices, and this type of stumbling block creates chaos and indecision in our lives.
EXPECTATIONS we hold about how others perceive us or how we wish to be perceived, and, sooner or later, this creates a dichotomy in our thinking that leads us down a path of self-delusion and of not speaking our truth.
DEFEAT over promises we made to ourselves or others and the deep sense of paralyzing failure that lingers.
The most pernicious of all is FEAR, or the unknown, of failure, success, of life, and of all sorts of imagined and real adversaries that create blocks in our path. But we do NOT have to stay down or live in that space permanently.
A Story: The Headache & Halo by Anon
One day, a man walked into his doctor’s office complaining…” Doctor, I have this awful headache that won’t go away. Please, could you give me a prescription for it?”
“I will,” murmured the doctor, pondering what had set off his usually calm patient. “But first, I want to check out a few things and ask you a few questions… Tell me, do you drink a lot of alcohol?”
“Alcohol?” the man shouted back indignantly. “I never touch that filthy stuff. Nor do I go near people who drink it. All filthy!”
“How about smoking?” the doctor calmly inquired.
“I think smoking is disgusting. I’ve never touched tobacco in my life.”
“Okay,” the doctor continued, “I’m a bit embarrassed to even ask this, but… Do you run around at night seeking dangerous pleasures?”
“Of course not! What do you take me for? I’m a highly spiritual and disciplined man, and I’m in bed by 10 o’clock every night.” The man spat back.
“Then, tell me…” said the doctor, “This pain in your head – is it a sharp, shooting kind of pain?”
“Yes, yes!” The man eagerly replied, his eyes lighting up… “It is… a sharp, shooting kind of pain.”
“Well, that’s simple, my dear fellow!” the doctor replied with a smile on his face. “The trouble is that you have your halo on too tight. All we need to do for you is loosen it up a bit; loosen you up a bit! Avoid the bad habits I mentioned earlier, and enjoy some innocent pleasures in life – Create some balance. Let go of the rigidity. Live!”
“A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist.” Eleanor Roosevelt
Motivation Mondays: Overcoming Stumbling Blocks
What we sometimes consider a stumbling block is rather a rock we can step on. Mother Teresa
The right attitude can transform a barrier into a blessing, an obstacle into an opportunity or a stumbling block into a stepping stone.
Cory Booker
What are stumbling blocks and defeat to the weak and vacillating are but stepping stones to victory to the determined soul. Orison Swett Marden
How Can We Overcome Our Stumbling Blocks? According to the article below, we can make significant changes to our fears, challenges, and stumbling blocks by taking several crucial steps. Preston Ni offers 8 ways we can change that barrier to our growth, and it begins with:
1. The power of perspective: our attitudes and beliefs about events in our lives make a huge difference. If we face them down, we can break them down. The others are listed and do come back for the details.
2. Don’t focus on the mud.
3. All you have to do is ask … the right individuals.
4. Thrive on your strengths while exploring new potential.
5. Keep the fun and enjoyment.
6. Keep your options open.
7. Keep the faith.
8. Resolve to never, ever give up.
Read Psychology Today: Turn Your Stumbling Blocks into Stepping Stones! by Preston Ni M.S.B.A.
The details for Motivation Mondays are below. Join in! The themes for DEC 2017/JAN 2018 are:
12/01 – World Aids Day, 12/02 Abolition of Slavery,
12/03 – Start of Advent, 12/7 Pearl Harbor Remembrance, 12/8 Immaculate Conception, 12/9 Anti-Corruption Day,
12/10 – Human Rights Day, 12/11 Green Day, 12/12 Start of Hanukkah,
12/17 – 12/18 International Migrant’s Day, 12/20 End of Hanukkah, 12/21 Winter Solstice, 12/23 Super Saturday
12/24 – 12/25 Christmas, 12/26 Start of Kwanzaa, 12/31 New Year’s Eve
01/01 – 01/01 New Year’s Day, 01/04 World Braille Day, 01/07 Orthodox Christmas, Golden Globes Award
01/08 – 01/11 Human Trafficking Awareness, 01/14 Orthodox New Year,
01/15 – 01/15 Martin Luther King Day, 01/21 World Religion Day,
01/22 – 01/26 International Customs Day, 01/27 International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
01/28 – 01/28 Grammy Awards
Are You Looking for Ways to Stay Creative in 2018?
– Join the Daily Post Post-a-day or Post-a-week Challenge.
— Join the BlogHer Writing Lab
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Photo Challenge: A GROWTH Mindset
“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.” Carol S. Dweck
Photo Challenge: A GROWTH Mindset Japanese Peony & Beefsteak Tomatoes
The person who does the work is the ONLY one who learns! Harry Wong
The strongest principle of growth lies in the human choice. George Eliot
Our growth depends not on how many experiences we devour, but on how many we digest. Ralph W. Sockman
Growth is a life long experience/process and it is inevitable. Sometimes it is easy and, at other times, it is as hard as pulling teeth. Our mindset/mental attitude can help us or hinder our growth so we must be vigilant about our responses to the stimuli we receive. Like sunrise and sunset, we are in constant motion, and we either grow or we stagnate. When I think of examples of our growing process, I look to plant life as it is so easy to see how they thrive, strive and die each season… and then start the process all over again and again; they surrender to the process and reappear rejuvenated.
READ: Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Viktor E. Frankl
Photo Challenge: A GROWTH Mindset
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. Napoleon Hill
Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong. N. R. Narayana Murthy
Mindset change is not about picking up a few pointers here and there. It’s about seeing things in a new way. When people…change to a growth mindset, they change from a judge-and-be-judged framework to a learn-and-help-learn framework. Their commitment is to growth, and growth take plenty of time, effort, and mutual support.
The daily actions that aid our growth happen like clockwork: Without the air we breathe and the rising sun that stimulates the internal clock of much of life, we would be gone in no time… Our mindset plays a big role in it all. We can go with the flow, and perform our tasks with purpose or we can hinder our growth, by resisting every opportunity to move forward with our daily lives. Come back for more and enjoy the photos from my garden and yard. I will share more later.
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