Category: motivation

The Cancer Journeys: The Gift of Peace

It’s been a while since I’ve written a cancer blog. Admittedly, they are difficult to write. And now, someone close to me is nearing the end of his life due to cancer. It’s hard.

In watching this person face the end of his life, and to watch those close to this dear man, I’m amazed at how calm and peaceful they are when confronting this awful situation. The faith they are exhibiting is extraordinary, even through the fear and sadness.

When any of us receive a scary diagnosis, our reactions can vary. I’ve observed, and experienced, the different ways we can respond. Responses range from fear, to denial, to anger, to hope and the courage to fight, to acceptance. These are similar stages in the grief process. That’s probably not a coincidence. There is grief with a cancer diagnosis, because you are changed from that day on.

In thinking through this, there’s a quote that resonates with me these days:

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you. — Brian Tracy

I want to take a lesson from this person close to me and with how he is living up to that quote. I want to face life with dignity, grace, and no wasted time. That kind of strength only comes from God.

Cancer has taught me many things. Sometimes I want to ignore that I even had cancer. There are times I want to use cancer survival as motivation to spur me on and to remind me that I am stronger than I think I am. But it’s not cancer itself that affects me. It’s my faith and how I deal with cancer that can make a difference.

How we handle life’s difficulties can inspire others or disappoint or scare us and others. I can only hope I inspire like my dear family member is inspiring me…with peace and calmness, and serenity. That in and of itself is a gift.

Seek and You Shall Find – The Negative Trap

You know, for a writer and a blogger, I’m not doing a very good job posting on my blog these days. I know that happens from time to time, but I truly enjoy blogging, so I’m a little bummed out about my lack of consistency.

Okay, the world is full of distractions, but as the saying goes “Writers write.” We have to learn to fight through the distractions and keep on doing our job.

For me, I’m trying to figure out why it’s been so difficult recently. And yes, the world is crazy right now, and there’s a feeling of isolation due to Covid. Last year, however, was more than just Covid and the pandemic that none of us saw coming. It was the anger of this nation, with the presidential election dividing America nearly in half. It was the protests and riots, and general unrest that had many of us shaking our heads wondering what was happening to the United States. Then, if you throw in any type of personal crisis, health issue, job loss, and more, well, how much more can we take?

The new year was going to bring new hope, and there are sparks of hope, but overall, things remain the same.

So, for me, trying to have any glimmer of creativity has been tough. I’ve determined that a lot of my block has been negativity. The world is angry. I feel like we’ve lost our kindness and compassion for one another. There’s so much negativity going around that it’s blocking out the positive. Comments on social media posts are vindictive and nasty. You can’t even agree to disagree. If you don’t believe like someone else does, they can call you all kinds of names, and are so filled with hate, it’s almost frightening. What happened to politeness and plain old common courtesy?

Personally, I don’t mind disagreeing with others. I like hearing their viewpoint on issues. By listening to all sides, I learn new things. I can think about things from a different perspective. Even if I still disagree with them, I like knowing their point of view. This goes back to agreeing to disagree. I try to be an open, positive person in my day-to-day life, but right now, the negativity is sucking the energy and creativity right out of me. I’m weighed down with hopelessness. How do you combat that?

There’s only one way: Look for the good. If you’re in such a mindset of anger, then you’ll only see offense everywhere you turn. If you look for kindness, you’ll see positivity more and more. It’s too easy to fall into the negative trap.

My faith helps me a lot. And lately the Bible verse in 1 Thessalonians that says “Pray without ceasing” has been put into action like never before. Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NIV) says, “Then you call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

That’s what I need to keep in mind: What am I seeking? Am I so consumed with negativity that it’s the only thing I see? Or am I looking for good things? Anger breeds anger, but on the flipside, kindness breeds kindness.

We need to ask ourselves what are we looking for? I know what I’m seeking – how about you?

Motivation – Or Lack Thereof

(Before we get started, I’m also blogging over at www.LearnHowToWriteaNovel.com about the 3 D’s of Writing – somehow these two blogs are related).

Okay, for today,  let’s talk about motivation. We all need motivation to exercise, eat better, and for me, to also write every day.

And everyday, either in my devotional reading or on social media, I see all kinds of inspiring quotes that seem like they were written just for me. They get me fired up, and I say Yes, that’s me, and then I’m encouraged to do my best each day.

But then, inevitably, there comes a day where you wake up, and you know you’re not feeling it. You’re somewhat cranky, or you just want to shut out the world. The quotes and memes that so inspired you fly from your head like they never existed. Motivation has fled the scene.

So, then what? How do you move forward when all you want to do is watch mindless television and eat popcorn with peanut M&M’s?

You can go two ways with this:

  1. Sometimes you do need a break. You need to sit back and rest and rejuvenate. If you’re not at your best then you won’t deliver your best.
  2. But more often than not, we need to find a way to push through it. Move forward. That may mean breaking down tasks into even smaller pieces and slowly start to get things done. When you move forward, then your momentum and motivation might find you.

Today is one of those days for me, where motivation has fled the scene. I didn’t wake up in a bad mood, but I didn’t wake up with a smile either.

So, I’m going to put item #2 to the test today. Break things down and find a way to move forward when in reality, popcorn, M&M’s and movies I’ve seen a hundred times before are calling my name.

If I can get going, then I know I’ll feel better and feel like I accomplished something. Sitting with my popcorn won’t make me feel better, it will probably make me feel worse.

And by writing this blog, I’ve already accomplished one thing! I haven’t written in several days (due to being sick mostly), so this will help me get back on track. Hopefully, by getting some of these thoughts out of my head, I can look to the next step I need to take and what else needs to be done today.

I’m stronger than my lack of motivation. (Does that make sense?) On mornings when I wake up in a blah mood, I need to remember that. Perhaps that’s the best inspirational quote I can keep in mind — I’m stronger.

What about you? How do you find motivation when it has gone away? I’d love to hear from you.

Have a great productive day, everybody!