Category: just show up

Being Extraordinary

I love movies! Anyone who knows me knows that I love watching movies, and I will watch and analyze the same movie over and over again. Besides the entertainment value, movies can be inspirational.

Sister Act from Buena Vista Pictures

One such movie is “Sister Act” from 1992 with Whoopi Goldberg. Wait. What? A Whoopi Goldberg movie being inspirational? Okay, maybe not the entire movie, but a portion of it, as it relates to the growth of the character of Sister Mary Robert, played by Wendy Makkena.

When Sister Mary Clarence (Goldberg) takes refuge in the convent and first meets the choir, she’s suddenly thrust into the position as leader of the choir. As Goldberg takes the reins of the group, she notices Sister Mary Robert (Makkena) blending into the background and only mouthing the words to the songs. Mary Clarence then brings Mary Robert front and center. Goldberg’s character explains that Mary Robert needs to sing loud enough to be heard over the noise of a diner, with clacking silverware and loud waitresses. Finally, Mary Robert’s voice is heard, and it’s a sweet one. Throughout the course of the movie, Mary Robert is more front and center with the choir, and doing more solos when they perform. She’s come out of her shell and is no longer hiding in the back, just mouthing the words.

How often do we find ourselves hiding and merely going through the motions? Do you have big dreams, but are plagued with self-doubt? As I may have mentioned before, I’m reading a book by Alli Worthington called “Standing Strong.” In it, Worthington talks about “playing small.” In the sense of not letting comparison, fear, or self-doubt hold you back from pursuing your dreams, or just living your life to the fullest.

Mary Robert was playing small – not letting her gifts come out because of fear, and not believing she had a true talent.

Recently, I’ve come to believe there’s no such thing as ordinary. Whether you’re a CEO, a writer, a waiter/waitress, or a housewife (or househusband), you are extraordinary. It doesn’t matter what job you have! Anything we choose to do in our lives has value. Any time we come around friends to laugh and enjoy, or comfort and console, we’re offering something special to them – something extraordinary.

Yes, there are times we feel like we’re living in a mundane world, with routine lives, feeling plain and not special. But that’s not true.

In a recent post on this blog, I asked what you wanted to be when you grew up. Is there a dream you haven’t achieved yet? For some, their lives may have taken a completely different direction, and they never had the opportunity to pursue their dreams. Goals can go by the wayside when we have the responsibility of a family and bills to pay.

That being said, remember Friends, you are not a failure. Maybe your time just hasn’t come. Or maybe you were destined for something else. I don’t know what God had in mind for you, but I know we have the ability to make our circumstances worse or better, by our own attitude. Even if we’re not where we want to be in our job or in our life, doesn’t mean we aren’t extraordinary. We can offer each other so much, just by giving of ourselves.

I’m blessed to be on a new path these days. I’m a college student again, finally completing my bachelor’s degree that I started over 40 (gasp!) years ago. Will school make me extraordinary? No, not necessarily. But school is proving to me that I’m not too old to keep pursuing my dreams. I’m not too old to influence those around me. I don’t have to keep playing it small.

My new mindset is going to be “There’s no such thing as ordinary.” Remember, you are special. You matter. You are extraordinary.

Do you believe this? Let me hear your thoughts. And let’s encourage one another.

For the Wanderers and Wonderers

What did you want to be when you grew up?

You may wonder why I’m asking that question. I’m not sure, to be honest. Maybe because when I was little, I wrote little stories, then cut up the paper and stapled everything together so it looked like a book. I’ve always written.

I’ve also liked to perform. I was a dancer, and loved drama, and did little skits with my friends growing up.  I loved playing make believe.

Then, when I did grow up, I went into broadcasting and had a 15-year-career (behind the scenes, for the most part) in radio and television.

In a way, I’ve always known, at least generally, what I wanted to do.

Granted, I’ve done other things besides writing and broadcasting. I’ve worked for a Chamber of Commerce and an Economic Development Foundation and worked a few years in the hospitality industry at hotels. But as I’ve aged, I’ve turned back to my childhood love of writing and creating.

My husband will tell you that he wanted to be a rock and roll guitarist when he was a kid. And today, he is definitely NOT a famous guitarist, although he still has his love of music. God is using other talents of my husband’s in his current job.

As much as I love writing, I’m still not sure what place it holds in my future. I don’t know what I’ll write, if I’ll ever finish a novel, if I’ll write screenplays, or just be a happy blogger.

In the long run, perhaps I don’t need to know. I just need to follow the path that God has in front of me. Praying that no matter where he leads me, I’ll honor him.

I think there are a lot of people today who might be lost or wondering what to do with their lives. They may have lost their job in the pandemic. Or quit their job due to other circumstances. Others may feel like although they have a good job now, is this really what they’re meant to do in life.

Do you wonder what your purpose is in life? If you’re walking the road God created for you?

I wish I had a good answer for those who are wandering and wondering. I don’t. But I go back to the question of what I wanted to be when I grew up. If that doesn’t point you in a direction, then maybe volunteering somewhere will, or taking a continuing education class at a community college, or just getting involved with your church. I do know this: Prayer is the first step. The second step may be up to you. After that, look out! You never know where God is going to take you.

Time’s A-Wastin’

Every week, I try to have a spark of creative brilliance for this blog. It’s called “Talking Among Friends” for a reason. I want the posts to be something that most of us can relate to and be topics that start conversations. And I want it to be a place where we feel less alone, because, guess what, someone is usually going through the same thing you are.

As much as I try to plan ahead and have words of wisdom to share, there are weeks where the words don’t want to come. And it’s not because I’m overly busy or haven’t had the time to work on the posts.

In fact, one of the most annoying things to me is when I have a block of time to work and I either do something else, or fritter my time away thinking I can do this later. Then, you guessed it, something else always comes up later that needs my attention.

I don’t like wasting time and I don’t like being a procrastinator. Yet, I can be very, very good at both of those things. This leads to frustration, and that frustration can sometimes stop me in my tracks. I feel like going off in a corner to sulk….or at least crochet something.

It’s too easy to look back and see those wasted days, or “drift days” as I call them and start getting down on myself. This is a topic that has been covered recently on this blog  so no need to belabor it here.

Instead, what I want to happen when I look back is to learn the lessons of the past, and carry those lessons into a positive future. We don’t know how many days we have here on earth, and I don’t want to spend those days fretting about what I didn’t accomplish yesterday.

Instead, I want to focus on what I can do today, right now. Whether it be getting my clothes out of the dryer and finally folding them, or doing an act of kindness for someone, or sitting my backside in my chair and writing a blog post.

Life is too short to waste time looking backwards. If I learn something from my past, then I become a changed person and I’m not who I once was. This goes back to not dragging around the weight of mistakes on my shoulders. Every day is a new, fresh start.

So, we begin again today, with a new perspective. I don’t have to be who I once was. I can keep moving forward (if you haven’t seen Disney’s “Meet the Robinsons”, you should. There’s a good message in that movie).

And maybe every day I move ahead, there will be less and less wasted days behind me.

Do you have any good advice or tips on how to combat wasted days or shedding your past mistakes? Please share!

Meanwhile, choose joy this week. Talk with you soon.

 

How to Deal with a Frustrating Day

Today is a very frustrating day. My mind is scattered in so many different directions with things I need to do that I’m not doing any of them well. I know I just need to stop, take a breath, and take things one item at a time, but it all seems overwhelming at the moment.

Have you had days like these? I know how to break things down, make a to-do list, and knock that list down. There’s great satisfaction in crossing things off your list. But today, that’s not working. Everything feels like it’s going to take too long to do and I keep thinking about other things have just as much priority and shouldn’t wait. It’s like I have too many tabs open on my computer and keep skipping back and forth between them, but not finishing anything so I can close tabs, instead of opening yet another one. Too many tabs are open in my brain!

I’m a little angry at myself because I’ve been trying to complete a blog post for this site, and it’s just not coming together. I even missed my own self-imposed deadline to have it done. This only adds to my frustration.

So, I thought I’d just write out my annoyance with myself. Sometimes that helps me deal with things. And maybe I’ll settle down and finally tackle that to do list.

Now, it looks like this stream-of-consciousness writing will become today’s blog post. It’s real and it’s honest. I know this will pass, but it would be nice to know I’m not alone when I have days like these.

Let me know your thoughts. Are you frustrated right now? Or is your to-do list working for you? Let’s build each other up and turn a negative day like today into a positive one. Thanks for “listening.”